Administration and faculty address current difficulties in communication

By WOLF HOWARD
Associate News Editor

Both administrators and
faculty members at Saint
Louis University have noted communication difficulties concerning proposed
faculty evaluation systems
throughout the 2012-2013
academic year.
Despite agreement on
the desire to improve SLU
as a whole, faculty and administrators cannot seem
to agree on the best process to obtain their goals.
The communication issues regarding faculty evaluation began in the fall of
2011. Multiple committees
were formed to address a

problem with the method of
faculty evaluation at SLU—
a problem recognized mutually by the faculty and administrators.
Following the reports
presented by each committee, the Faculty Senate tapped Terry Tomazic,
professor of Sociology and
Criminal Justice, to lead a
new committee in drafting
a proposal for an annual
faculty evaluation process
to present to Vice-president
of Acadmeic Affairs Manoj
Patankar. The proposal was
presented to Patankar on
June 5, 2012.
The faculty proposal
placed a high value on
transparency in the methods of evaluation and re-

warding high-performing
faculty. It was also evident
that the faculty thought faculty evaluation had to maintain a certain qualitative nature, not settling on a strict
points system. Instead, the
proposal made an attempt
to use a points system that
allowed for the best judgment of chairs and deans
in each assessment to override a need for adherence to
very strict metrics.
Of particular importance
in the proposal was revision
of the merit pay system currently in place at SLU. The
proposal describes the current system as a “zero-sum
process” and states that
there is not enough demonstrated recognition of excel-

lence.
According to Dr. Mark
Knuepfer, head of faculty
senate, the faculty did not
recognize any of their recommendations in the evaluation process proposed by
Patankar.
The draft proposal set
forth by Patankar in August was demonstrably different from that developed
by Tomazic’s committee.
According to Patankar his
draft was based on all of the
feedback he had received
from the different committee reports and data collected by his own team members over the last two years.
See “Plan” on Page 3

Vice-president of Academic Affairs Manoj Patankar is working to improve communication between the faculty and himself.

Are you better off than
you were four years ago?
No, that was not supposed
to be an impersonation of
Mitt Romney’s campaign
slogan. Four years ago, the
Class of 2013 was preparing
to enter the land of higher
education. These seniors
are poised to enter the job
market, but there is question if they are ready to get
a “grown-up” job.
There is more uncertainty about the job market than
ever before, due in part to
a presidential election and
a lagging economy a According to the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics, while
Missouri’s unemployment

rate is below the national
average at 7.2%, the national
average unemployment rate
lags behind at 8.2%.
The workforce is becoming increasingly flooded
with job seekers that have
a college degree. With the
growing pool of labor, available jobs are more difficult
to come by.
There are, however, particular qualities that stick
out to large companies such
as Four Seasons, The Boeing Company and Express
Scripts, each leaders in
their respective industries.
“One must have a high
level of emotional intelligence in order to work in
any career field,” Stephanie
Huffines, Human Resource
Manager at Four Seasons

St. Louis, said. “One of the
most essential attributes of
a job seeker is the ability to
build relationships within
an organization.”
Four Seasons operates
hotels at 89 properties
worldwide. Fortune Magazine has featured Four Seasons in their annual “Top
100 Places to Work” rankings since 1998.
According to Huffines,
there is no particular major
that one must have in order to work with the Four
Seasons. There are a few
individual characteristics
that the company seeks out
when hiring.
“Number one, one must
have a positive attitude because the nature of the job
is dealing with people and

change,” Huffines said.
“If you cannot adapt then
you’re stuck, Four Seasons
is about change and hard
work, in order to deal with
adversity, one must carry
a very positive attitude and
persona.”
Huffines said that the
workforce is very different than school and not all
things will come fast.
“The idea that someone
can get everything right at
this second is not a reality,”
Huffines said. “You have
to be willing to put in your
dues and gain experience
in order to move up in the
Four Seasons.”
According to Huffines,
See “Jobs” on Page 3

Two into one: Public Health, Social Work combine
By KRISTEN MIANO
News Editor

Phot courtesy of Public Health

INSIDE:

The Salus center currently houses the School of Public Health,
which will join with the School of Social Work to become the
College for Public Health and Social Justice.

NEWS

After several months
of planning, the Board of
Trustees approved the formation of a new college at
Saint Louis University on
Sept 22. The college will
be a reorganization of the
current School of Public
Health and the School of
Social Work to create the
College for Public Health
and Social Justice.
“We believe that the new
college will put SLU ‘ahead
of the curve’ in terms of
public health and global
health in the 21st century,”
Edwin Trevathan, Dean of
the School of Public Health,
said. “This transformative
move will allow the new

2 OPINION

>> Meet Jonathan Sawday

>> How to build SLU

college to simply be better
and do more than the two
schools separately.”
Trevathan explained that
the new college will better
reflect the values of Saint
Louis University.
“The new college, with
the fields together,” Trevathan said, “allows us to
better focus on social justice, social determinants of
health and the health and
well-being of the underserved and the disadvantaged – key for us living out
the Jesuit mission of public
health and of social work.”
The planning for the college began when the leadership of Public Health and
See “School” on Page 3

4 SPORTS

sation and develop mutually-acceptable solutions.”
The Senate also wrote
that flawed procedures
In response to last
were applied to the evaluaweek’s vote of no confition of the College of Edudence against Manoj Pacation and Public Service
tankar, Vice President of
with out prior consultation
Academic Affairs, from
on the matter with the facthe Faculty Senate of Saint
ulty. Biondi stated both the
Louis University, Lawrence
Executive Committee of
Biondi S.J., President of
the Faculty Senate and facSLU, sent out a letter statulty representatives from
ing his disappointment in
the College were involved
the vote and reaffirming his
in the process, which was
support for Patankar.
consistent with the faculty
“I fully support Dr. Pamanual and based on enrolltankar and have confidence
ment data in the college.
in his ability to lead the acaAs for the faculty’s condemic division of the Unicern that adequate leaderversity,” Biondi said in his
ship was not being provided
letter.
on issues remaining after
The letter was released
the reorganization of the
on Oct. 2 in accordance
Graduate School and issues
with the Faculty Senate’s rewith approval procedures
quested response deadline,
for administrative activias stated in their message
ties, Biondi stated the isto the President on Sept.
sues were being dealt with
26, which outlined their
with input from the faculty,
reasons for voting no confiand that it could not be validence. In the Sept. 25 Facdated if the
ulty Senate
processes
meeting, the
for adminvote of no
confidence
I fully support Dr. istrative apwere
passed with
and have proval
hurting
50 out of Patankar
57 senators confidence in his abili- faculty provoting in the ty to lead the academic ductivity.
To the
affirmative.
division of the Univerclaims that
In
the sity.
Patankar
same letter,
was
neBiondi went
glecting to
on to ad- -Lawrence Biondi
collaborate
dress each
with
facof the grievulty on important issues
ances stated in the Senate’s
and disregard faculty feedmessage.
back when he did collect it,
To the Senate’s assertion
Biondi asserted that faculty
that Patankar had advanced
feedback has been and will
a proposal to remove the
continue to be considered.
protections of tenure, a
“All input, consultation
move that would contradict
and advice are considered
the agreements in the facin decision making,” Biondi
ulty manual, Biondi stated
said in his letter. “Just bethat the policy drafts were
cause an exact faculty recmeant to begin a conversaommendation is not enacttion to work toward a faculed does not mean that the
ty review policy that would
faculty feedback and efforts
ultimately benefit the Uniwere not considered.”
versity.
Finally, when the Senate
“While we may have difstated that Patankar’s Straferent perspectives as to extegic plan was developed
actly how a post-tenure rewith with minimal input
view should be implementfrom the faculty, despite the
ed at SLU, there is nothing
significant role the faculty
fundamentally wrong with
would play in the plan, Bionthe concept,” Biondi said
di said that from the initial
in the letter. “Now that Dr.
development, the faculty
Patankar has withdrawn the
had been involved, and that
draft policies, I believe it is
Faculty Senate President,
in the best interest of the
University for the Faculty
Senate and the Administration to return to the converSee “Biondi” on Page 3
By KRISTEN MIANO
News Editor

Working in an office with
bookshelves filled to the
ceiling, Jonathan Sawday
seems to be a typical Literature professor. The newlyappointed English Department Chair holds the position of the Walter J. Ong,
SJ, Endowed chair in the
Humanities Department.
Originally from Leicester, England, he received
his Ph.D. in Renaissance
Literature from the University College of London Before coming to Saint Louis
University in 2009, he was a
professor of English at the
University of Strathclyde, in
Glasgow, Scotland.
Sawday’s love of literature began at a young age.
“I was one of those kids
who always had his nose in
a book,” he said.
Sawday said his favorite
series as a child, the ‘Biggles’ novels of Captain W.
E. Johns, were what piqued
his interest in reading.
“The
hero
drank,
smoked, and was clearly
sexist and racist. The books
were not at all what we
would give our children to
read today. But we knew no
better then,” he said.
Such was his eagerness
to read more of his favorite childhood hero, that he
needed special permission
from the public library so
he could check more than
four books out at once.
“I love the kind of escape
of a novel,” he said. “It’s an
alternative sort of world.”
Sawday also credits his
love of literature to a “fantastic” English teacher he
had at school in Yorkshire,
England. As a student at
London University, Sawday
considered studying Economics instead of English,
but says his lack of mathematical skills helped him
make the right decision.
Sawday, however, does
not only lead a life in academics. His second identity

THE SLU SCOOP
8:18 a.m. - ACCIDENTAL INJURY

underneath the stall divider in her
direction.
Tuesday, Oct. 2

11:16 a.m. - SEXUAL MISCONDUCT

An officer noticed a large amount of
water running down the walkway by
Marguerite Hall. The officer found
the source was from a damaged
water line that was connected to
Marguerite’s fire sprinkler system.
Maintenance was notified.

Monday, Oct. 1

All Information Provided by
Department of Public Safety
and Emergency Preparedness

Friday, Sept. 28

3:41 a.m. - SICK CASE

Pro Staff contacted DPSEP and
advised of an intoxicated underage
student with injuries. The student
said that he fell on his face while
walking from the Coronado Apartments. Officers arrived and discovered the student had cuts over
both eyes. Medical treatment was
refused.
John Schuler/ Photo Editor

is that of a broadcast journalist. Well-versed in both
radio and TV, he has contributed to multiple radio
stations in Britain, including BBC Radio 3, Radio 4,
and the BBC World Service.
Sawday’s third identity
resides in his passion for
sailing. He tries to sail off
the west coast of Scotland
each summer and owns a
boat named for a Scottish
island: the Colonsay of Crinan. His experience goes
back to the 1960s, when he
learned to sail as a child in
Cornwall.
Sawday has a lot of experience teaching in the United States. When it comes to
comparing American and
British students, however,
Sawday stated that we are
more similar than different.
“Students all over the
world have the same issues,
problems, skills and attributes,” Sawday said. “One
big difference, though, is
the different cultural references shared among U.S. as

opposed to U.K. students.”
The developing English
department at SLU was a
big attraction for Sawday.
Another attraction was the
title of his position: the Ong
Endowed chair. Ong was a
Jesuit priest and a professor
at SLU who died in 2003.
Sawday teaches both
graduate and undergraduate classes. His particular
research interest is in how
literature intersects with
technology, claiming that a
poem can be thought of a
kind of technology.
“A poem may be one of
the most complex pieces of
technology ever devised…
whose precise meaning and
use can shift over hundreds
of years,” Sawday said.
When it comes to SLU
students, however, Sawday
has a piece of advice for all,
regardless of background:
“Take an English class at
SLU with our faculty,” Sawday said. “The professors
here are quite extraordinary.”

An employee tripped and fell on his
left knee on the sidewalk near the
west side of the garage. DPSEP
Officers and EMS arrived. EMS
transported the employee to SLUH
ER for medical attention.
A female student reported that
she was using the restroom when
she heard a noise coming from
a neighboring stall. The female
student bent down and noticed what
she believed was a male looking

A potential vote of no
confidence against Vice
President for Academic Affairs Manoj Patankar was
brought up by multiple
speakers during the open
forum of Wednesday’s Student Government Association meeting. Senator Becky
Killian recommended that
all senators read the bill of
no confidence made against
President Lawrence Biondi
by SGA from 1999. She and
Senator Andrew McLaughlin offered to collect grievances from the student
body concerning Patankar
and the the university’s administrative plans.
The bill tabled from last
week concerning the ability for Senate to react to a
pocket veto power currently
held by the SGA president
was brought up again. An

amendment was proposed
to reword the bill. Senators
wanted to ensure the bill
did not take power from the
president and didn’t create
any new issues with loop
holes and unnecessary details. The bill was tabled.
A resolution to accept
the SGA directives for spot
funding was proposed. The
only addition to last year’s
directives was a note, stating explicitly that “failure to
properly transition executive boards does not justify
a spot funding request.”
Debate ensued about the
local transportation limitations on spot funding, with
some senators challenging
that the current directives
did not operate well with
groups that were based on
travel. Vice President of
Finance Vidur Sharma defended the directives, stating that allowing exceptions
is bad practice and that al-

tering the transportation directive would incur significant cost to the Activity Fee.
“This finance committee… will be fair, just and
consistent in all our allocation with every student
group regardless of what
they are or who they are,”
said Sharma.
There was concern
about the inability for the directives to cater to disabled
students who joined CSOs
late and required special
transportation. Sharma stated that he had never heard
of the issue, but should it
come up he would refer
first to precedence and then
to open discussion. The resolution passed.
The meeting concluded
with the passage of two spot
funding bills to Phases of
Motion and the SLU Italian
Club. The budgets of both
groups were lost in the inbox of last year’s assembly.

unewsonline.com

OCTOBER 4, 2012

Jobs: Businesses look for variety of majors
Continued from Page 1

there are qualities college
students can begin developing now.
“Qualities to work on
throughout a college student’s career for this industry include cooperation, innovative service thinking,
the willingness to travel and
above all, harboring a positive attitude,” Huffines said.
Another industry leader
in St. Louis, The Boeing
Company, will look to hire
12,000 to 15,000 new employees within the upcoming year.
“One must possess ability to think critically and creatively and possess strong
teamwork qualities,” Stephen Davis, spokesperson
for The Boeing Company,
said. “One must be able
to adapt to rapid industry
change and re-apply new
skills.”
According to Davis, the
top college majors that Boeing hires from are engineering science, mathematics,
statistics, information technology, design and manufacturing processes. Aside
from the fields of study that
are normally associated
with an aerospace company,
many different positions are
necessary to be filled that
include sales, business, human resources and physical
life science.

Davis said that learning
should continue beyond
college and that job candidates should develop and
maintain ethical behavior.
“A college graduate
must not lose that desire
for learning; it should be a
lifelong desire,” Davis said.
“One must be continually
motivated to learn while
maintaining the highest
ethical standards.”
Davis said that during
one’s college tenure, Boeing will look for school
projects and activities that
would translate well to real
projects within the company. One of the biggest
things an extracurricular
activity can show a company like Boeing is the ability
to apply classroom-learned
skills.
“We recruit Saint Louis
University very hard because we recognize their
curriculum prepares students best for the job responsibilities at Boeing,”
Davis said. “We have actually selected SLU as a top-tier
recruiting institution.”
The Express Scripts is
a pharmacy-benefits managing company that maintains its headquarters in St.
Louis. They are located on
the campus of University of
Missouri – St. Louis but harbor a good relationship with
SLU and, more specifically,
with the John Cook School

of Business.
“We have had great success with hiring from SLU’s
business school as well as
the masters of Health Sciences program,” Jessica
Wiese, Talent Acquisition
Specialist from Express
Scripts, said. “We carry a
very good relationship with
the students and faculty.”
Express Scripts employs
around 33,000 people nationwide. According to Wiese, the positions that they
look to fill are wide-ranging
and include information
technology, human resources, business, sales/marketing, supply chain, finance/
accounting, and operations.
There are a certain number
of specific personality traits
that are beneficial as well.
“One must contain a
strong work ethic, good attitude, passion and be team
oriented,” Wiese said. “An
education is extremely important and necessary but
tailoring oneself to good
traits go a long way to future careers.”
According to Wiese, it
is important for students
to understand that they will
not apply only what they
learned in the classroom.
Extracurricular activities
and internship experiences
are also important to developing skills employers’
desire.
“Once [college students

realize] that, they can begin
to focus on specific qualities
that Express looks for,” Wiese said. “You can be made
better through experience
of any kind whether it be
internships or extra-curricular activities.”
Express Scripts looks for
students with strong values,
as well as skills. The company dedicates a companywide initiative called Expressway that includes values of service, alignment,
integrity, passion, mutual
respect and collaboration.
“Express Scripts puts a
huge emphasis on how an
individual can work in the
big picture,” Wiese said. “It
has been shown that these
qualities promote the type
of individual we look for.”
According to Wiese, Express Scripts is seeing substantial growth and do not
anticipate any slowdown or
freeze on hiring. Express
Scripts will continue to seek
out top talent.
Huffines also stressed
the importance of college
students seeking out qualities that build a complete
person, not just a complete
employee.
“You must contain the
passion for helping and service while maintaining the
integrity and willingness to
learn,” Huffines said.
Will you be better off in
four years?

Come Out and Play takes Over the Quad

Kristen Miano / News Editor

Students run an inflatable obstacle course during Rainbow Alliance’s event, Come Out and Play on
Monday, Oct. 1 in the Saint Louis University Quad. Come Out and Play is the kick off event for the
organization’s Coming Out Month, a month dedicated to celebrating a spectrum of sexual orientation.

Plan: Faculty, administration agree on issues,
but struggle to find compatible solutions
Continued from Page 1

Patankar’s original draft
made no mention of altering the merit pay system,
which the committee cited
as a major issue with the
current method of annual
assessment.
His proposal instead focused on a new and rigorous system for annual review.
Patankar placed emphasis on a universal system of
grading professors’ performances.
The system was based
on various metrics, and according to Knuepfer different facets of the grading
system were weighted to be
of more import than others.
The faculty summarily described Patankar’s
proposal as “irremediably
flawed.” The original draft
was taken off the table.
As of October a new draft
of the faculty evaluation policy was in discussion.
The new draft demonstrates an attempt to work
more closely with the concerns and desires of faculty
members.
The evaluation now has
a “Comprehensive (FiveYear) Review,” and neither
the loss of tenure status nor
the termination of contract
are possible outcomes of
the review.
He also added the possibility of a “substantive merit
increase,” which demon-

strates more consistency
Strategic Plan there is a
with the evaluation policy
very strong focus on speproposed by Faculty Sencific metrics. The evaluaate.
tion of faculty effectiveness
“I made it very much a
in the draft of the plan indevelopmental process and
volves an Academic and
took out any aspects of puResearch Index, which has
nitive interpretation,” Pathree sub-indices focused
tankar said.
on academic performance,
He has met with SLU
research and scholarship
Medical School chairs and
performance, and financial
with Doisy College to disviability.
cuss the new proposal.
According to Patankar
Both conthe work
stituents
of
the
said
the
commitnew draft is
tees on
I made it ver y
an improveteaching
ment.
ef fectivemuch a developAnother
ness, remental process and
area where
search
communiand scholtook out aspects of
cation has
arly prodpunitive interpretabeen an isuct, and
sue as of
ser vice
tion.
late is in the
impact
d e v e l o p - -Manoj Patankar
will have
ment of the
a demonUniversity
strable
Strategic
impact
Plan.
on
the
The prouniversicess for developing a straty-wide strategic plan, with
tegic plan to improve all
their findings plugging in
facets of SLU began in 2010.
directly to various aspects
A faculty “think tank”
of the plan. He stated that
was put together to draft a
the strategic plan is not inframing document for the
tended to be a blanket polistrategic plan that SLU adcy for the campus.
ministrators and educators
Instead he plans on many
hoped to develop and impledifferent plans being develment in the coming years to
oped with similar goals in
ensure the growth and immind across the different
provement of the university.
units and schools comprisBased on the current
ing SLU.
iteration of the University
However
Eleonore

“

”

Stump, professor of Philosophy and one of the members of the original think
tank, said the development
of the Strategic Plan is “seriously disheartening.”
“Its emphasis is on such
things as ‘performance metrics’ to be used for ‘reward
systems’ intended as incentives,” Stump said.
She finds the current
plan to be a departure from
the original intention to
“highlight the University’s
core commitments and values, which ought to govern
its strategic planning.”
The framing document
makes no mention of the
metrics or indices in the
current draft of the plan.
Instead the framing
document numerated the
mission and values distinct
to SLU and listed ways in
which the University might
continue to demonstrate
and develop its character.
While the faculty and the
administration agree on the
fact that SLU needs to make
improvements, the lack of
a shared methodology has
been a major detriment to
the development of a cohesive plan thus far.
As University President
Lawrence Biondi, S.J. rejected Faculty Senate’s no
confidence vote, Patankar
and Faculty will be left to
reconcile their differences
or attempt to function as
two different brains trying
to control the same hand.

NEWS

3

School: College to
focus on social justice
fairs, President Lawrence
Biondi S.J.
On Sept. 21, the Academic Affairs Committee of the
Social Work recognized
Board of Trustees recomcommonalities within their
mended the creation of the
academics and mission
College for Public Health
and began to investigate
and Social Justice. The next
ways to further collaborate.
day, the Board of Trustees
Both schools have similar
voted unanimously to begin
cultures and a strong emreorganization.
phasis on social justice and
The new College will behelping the disadvantaged
come fully operational beof society.
ginning July 1, 2013.
“We have high expectaStudents currently entions for the new college,”
rolled in the Schools of
Donald Linhorst, director of
Public Health and Social
the School of Social Work,
Work will be absorbed into
said. ”We believe it can be
the new college, with the
transformational, helping
exception of those graduto position our college and
ating this academic year.
Saint Louis University as a
Students graduating before
leader among its peers in
July 2013 have the option to
interdisciplinary research,
request their diploma say
teaching and service, and
they attended the College
doing so within a social jusfor Public Health and Social
tice framework.”
Work.
By February 2012, disWhile the School of Socussion had begun about
cial Work
the poswill remain
sibility of
its
own
cr eating
school una
new
der the new
college.
We want to create a college, the
A Committee on new college that would p r o g r a m s
w i t h i n
Potential
R e o r - be truly unique, en- P u b l i c
g a n i z a - hance each school be- Health will
become
tion was
f o r m e d , yond what it could do their own
c o n s i s t - on its own, and make d e p a r t and
ing
of
contribu- ments
the current
e i g h t important
centers and
f a c u l t y tions...
institutes
represenin the two
t a t i v e s -Donald Linhorst
schools
from the
with carry
School
over into
of Public
the
new
Health
structure.
and four
Core requirements for
from the School of Social
those enrolled in Public
Work. Other member of
Health programs will not
the faculty and staff of the
change with the reorganischools were involved in
zation, but those in Social
“Impact Groups,” which inWork will have an addivestigated reorganization
tional public health class
possibilities and made sugto take. Students in the colgestions to the Committee.
lege will have the opportuIn April 2012, after apnity to choose from a wider
proximately two months
variety of electives in their
of meetings and collection
programs.
of faculty and administra“Social work students
tive input and feedback, the
will have a competitive adCommittee recommended
vantage in the marketplace
the formation of a new colwith a strong foundation
lege to encompass both
in public health. Public
schools.
Health students will be bet“The concept of the reter prepared to work in the
organization was viewed
real world in collaboration
as potentially positive by
with social workers and
the university senior leadleaders of non-profit orgaership, but only if A) the
nizations,” Trevathan said.
new college would be truly
“All students will have more
‘transformative’ and allow
elective course opportunithe new college to do more
ties in the new college.”
than the two schools could
The College for Public
do separately,” Trevathan
Health and Social Justice
explained in an email to The
will strive to emphasis the
University News, “[and] B)
social justice mission of the
an acceptable financial plan,
university while creating
good business plan and a
connections so students are
good transition plan could
capable of working across
be developed.”
disciplines in the future.
Over the summer, the
“We wanted to create a
Committee and leadership
new college that would be
within the schools contintruly unique, enhance each
ued to collect feedback
School beyond what it could
from faculty, staff and studo on its own and make imdents and began to draft
portant contributions to our
financial, business and tranrespective professions and
sitional plans to be submitthe individuals and commuted to Manoj Patankar, Vice
nities we serve,” Linhorst
President for Academic AfContinued from Page 1

Mark Knepfer, had voted
affirmatively in support of
the strategic planning process at the Sept. 27 meeting
of the President’s Coordinating Council.
Over all, Biondi stated
that he did not believe the
Senate’s actions were correct or well supported.
“The letter to me provides no concrete of credible facts supporting the
Senate’s assertion that the
University’s reputation has
been severely eroded, nor
do the assertions support
the action of no confidence
in Patankar,” Biondi said.
Biondi concluded by urging the Senate to focus their
efforts on the Blue Ribbon Committee, a committee working toward better
shared governance at the
University, and to use their
leadership to work for the
“greater good of the University,” namely by refrain-

ing from actions that would
damage SLU’s reputation
and standing.
Kneupfer conceded that
what happens with the Vice
President of Academic Affairs is ultimately the President’s decision, but he is
happy that faculty voices
are at least being heard.
“The [post-tenure review] policies were removed, that was first and
foremost,” Kneupfer said.
“We had felt the Vice of
Academic Affairs was not
capable of doing his job. We
feel it is a difficult job to do,
and he has not had much
experience at this management level. It’s a complex
university, but we feel we
have voiced our concerns.”
Kneupfer hopes that the
faculty and administration
can reach a mutual understanding.
“The faculty don’t have
the right to fire the vice
president, just the right
to make our voice heard,”
Kneupfer said

U
OPINION

OCTOBER 4, 2012

unewsonline.com

Editorials

Editorials are opinion pieces written by the Editorial Board of The University News.
The editorials printed in this space represent the opinion of The University News.
Commentaries and Letters to the Editor represent the opinions of the signed authors
but do not necessarily represent the opinions of The University News.

Letters

to the editor
The University News reserves the right not to
publish any letters that are deemed intentionally
and/or inappropriately inflammatory, more than
the 300-word limit or unsigned by the original
author. The following are letters and/or website
comments. Because the identities of website posters
cannot be verified, all website comments should
be treated as anonymous. Actual letters to the
editor may be submitted online at unewsonline.
com or e-mailed to opinion@unewsonline.
com. Please include your cell phone number.

“Getting back to solutions”
after tenure controversy

Erika Klotz / Chief Illustrator
Mike Hogan/ Opinion Editor

The best way to build a better university
Amidst the recent tension between faculty and the
administration, SLU’s leadership has reiterated its
goal of ranking the university among the top 50 in
the U.S. This aspiration is meant to act as a unifying
force for the university community, and ever yone can
agree that this is a positive goal for SLU, right?
The answer is yes but with a caveat.
SLU has another mission statement, one that reflects its status, not just as any university, but as a
Jesuit, Catholic university. Though other Catholic
schools around the countr y may distance themselves
from their religious identities in order to bring in
more students, it is vital that SLU remains true to
its mission statement: “the pursuit of truth for the
greater glor y of God and for the ser vice of humanity.” Entering the top 50 schools isn’t necessarily the
best way to glorify God.
That said, SLU should inarguably work to become
the best university it can be, while remaining true to
its Catholic identity. The question that arises, then, is
how to accomplish this goal.
The cornerstone of a great university is its faculty.
Great professors and researchers drive for ward the
intellectual progress not just of the university, but of
the entire world. Thus the main focus for SLU should
be to attract acclaimed academics and give them the
tools they need once they’re here.
Of course, these two activities go hand in hand.
The best way to bring in talented scholars is to build
the facilities they need to proceed in their work.
These building projects are inevitably ver y costly,
and so the university must continue to grow its endowment in order to provide resources for its faculty

and students.
How can SLU get the funds it needs to improve and
expand its operations? As a private university, tuition
is one major component. Alumni donors are another
source, and yet SLU’s alumni donation rate is unfortunately quite low.
To encourage alumni to give back, SLU must
strike a balance between bringing in students and
taking care of them once they’ve matriculated, all the
while making intelligent fiscal decisions. Many students feel that SLU is sometimes more focused on
attracting new students than on meeting the needs of
current ones. While this approach may seem positive
in the short run, when the influx of tuition dollars
enters the coffers and admissions become more competitive, it may harm the university in the long run
when alumni don’t feel inclined to donate.
Ultimately, SLU must look at each student not as
a sum of tuition and fees, but as an investment. And
not just as a financial investment, either; as the Jesuit
ideal is to educate “the whole person,” so SLU must
invest in all aspects of life for its student body. The
returns on these investments should be measured
based on the positive impact SLU students have on
their communities and on the world at large, not just
on the university’s balance sheets. Ever y hour of service, ever y advance in research, ever y act done for
God is a step for ward for this university.
So while becoming one of the top 50 colleges in
the countr y necessitates running SLU efficiently as
a business, it is important to remember that our university is more than just a business. It is a center of
learning, a fount of ser vice and a place of worship.

Lessons learned from NFL officiating fiasco
Football fans worldwide breathed a collective sigh
of relief as the regular NFL officials returned to work
last week. At Thursday night’s game between Cleveland and Baltimore, the refs took the field to cheers
from Browns and Ravens fans alike.
The three-month lockout was a classic case of notknowing-what-you-have-until-it’s-gone for the NFL
and its fans. Indeed, officiating is often best when it
is least noticed; rarely do NFL fans say, “That was a
perfect spot, great work RJ 112.” Yet a bad spot will
inevitably draw the ire of thousands. Thus, the referees were often taken for granted.
Now, that will not be the case—at least for a little
while. The multitude of highly debatable calls by the
replacement refs demonstrated just how vital the officials are in maintaining the quality of play in the NFL.
The players and coaches may get most of the glamour
and attention, but the entire system is completely dependent on a team of highly skilled professionals to
keep the show running.
Hopefully, Commissioner Roger Goodell and the
rest of the NFL higher-ups have learned a lesson after the lockout fiasco: take care of your skilled employees. Three weeks of games have shown that the
officials cannot be replaced—or at least, not replaced
ver y well. If they leave, the integrity of the game collapses. Perhaps the television ratings for NFL games
did not suffer in the short run, but had the lockout
continued it is ver y possible that fans would have

found another sport to watch.
Football is, after all, a ver y contrived sport. Officials are not only responsible for calling penalties, but
for maintaining the overall pace and flow of the game.
They even defuse heated disputes between players,
and increased hostility when the replacement refs
were on the field was obvious. Beyond that, there are
thousands of rules and technicalities to be learned.
It’s impossible to give someone else all that knowledge and experience overnight.
Given how essential the refs are to the game, it
seems fair that they should receive as sizeable a
chunk of the NFL pie.
And a large pie it is: the games bring in an incredible amount of revenue which is reflected in player
salaries, stadium sizes and the absurd price of advertising during the Super Bowl. This huge revenue
stream should also be reflected in the salaries of the
officials.
Whether through greed or pride or simple miscalculation, the NFL leadership failed to appreciate how
much the officials deser ve those high salaries. It took
turning the entire sport into a farce to bring them
around.
So be appreciative of the NFL officials and remember that ever y system is dependent on select people
who can’t easily be replaced. Then, just sit back and
enjoy the show and be glad that once again, the only
arbitrar y officiating in the NFL is the coin toss.

I do not speak for all students of Saint Louis University, but I know that many share this sentiment. If
SLU administration wishes to advance our university
to a position of prestige among the top 50 in the U.S.,
then why attempt to enact policies that antagonize
and affront academia with this latest controversy regarding tenure?
Personally, I fail to understand the actions of
the president, Vice President Patankar or even the
Board or their attempt to radically alter academic
tenure here at SLU. There is a widespread feeling
amongst SLU students and faculty that the administration consistently fails to act with our best interests in mind. Recent events: failure to construct
new dorms after new policies requiring students
to live on campus for 2 years; widespread, national
controversy surrounding tenure considerations; and
controversy surrounding the handling of SLU Law
funds. All these demonstrated the level to which the
administration is out of touch with those it holds
most dear.
Yes, President Biondi has achieved wonderful
things for this university. He has taken a small commuter school and brought it to the forefront of Jesuit education. However, there is a point when it is
time to step down and allow new leadership and new
ideas to enter the equation. SLU has the potential to
achieve status among the top 50 U.S. universities,
but, in my opinion, the administration must work toward transparency and harmony with its faculty, students and alumni. After all, we are the greatest asset
to this university, now and moving forward.
I agree with Dr. Patankar, “It’s time to get back
to solutions;” it is time for the Board of Trustees to
begin a transition of power; it is time for new leadership.

“

- Patrick Hitchins is a senior in the John Cook
School of Business

Quotes

of the week

“

-Bill McDermott, men’s soccer public
announcer

“

sports editor
charles bowles
sports@unewsonline.com

chief copy editor
hilary korabik
copy@unewsonline.com

managing Editor
TJ Keeley
managing@unewsonline.com

Assoc. sports editor
tony traina
sports@unewsonline.com

copy editor
hallie kaiser
copy@unewsonline.com

News Editor
kristen miano
news@unewsonline.com

Arts editor
Alanah nantell
arts@unewsonline.com

copy editor
lizzie bartek
copy@unewsonline.com

Assoc. News editor
wolf howard
news@unewsonline.com

assoc. arts editor
maggie needham
arts@unewsonline.com

fashion editor
julia christensen
fashion@unewsonline.com

ENTERPRISE EDITOR
DERRICK NEUNER
enterprise@unewsonline.com

online editor
christopher webb
webmaster@unewsonline.com

SCIENCE EDITOR
GaBRIELE GEERTS
science@unewsonline.com

design director
brianna radici
design@unewsonline.com

multimedia director
emily diehl
multimedia@unewsonline.com

RELIGION EDITOR
ADNAN SYED
religion@unewsonline.com

OPINION EDITOR
MICHAEL HOGAN
opinion@unewsonline.com

PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
JOHN SCHULER
photo@unewsonline.com

”
”

See Page 7.

It is my idea and my mantra to
do something more meaningful
beyond music.
-Alonzo Lee, Grammy-winning producer

“Freedom of the press—print,
online and broadcast—is a basic
right in a democratic society
and is valuable in promoting
the development of students as
socially responsible persons ...
The University News is a student
voice, not the student voice. The
views of The University News are
the expressions of the students
involved ... If [The University
News] can represent a point of
view around which discussion
may develop, it serves a legitimate and needed purpose.”
- From The University News’
Charter
The University News is a
member of the Associated
Collegiate Press, the Student
Press Law Center, the College
Media Advisers and the Missouri
College Media Association, a
division of the Missouri Press
Association.
First copy, free.
Each additional copy, $1.00.

unewsonline.com

OCTOBER 4, 2012

OPINION

5

Health care: Obama, Romney differ in diagnosis
Editor’s note: Leading up to the presidential election, each week two commentaries will focus on an issue that is important to voters. One will
be written from the perspective of a supporter of President Obama, and the other will be from the perpective of a supporter of Gov. Romney.

Obama: Better for our health

The Obamacare debacle

Health care policy has
been enormously important in this election, and
for good
r e a son. We
spend
more on
health
c a r e
than any
other developed
countr y
–
17.6
Zara Petkovic
percent
of GDP
as opposed to the average
9.5 percent. For all that
money, one would hope
that we’d be healthier. Rather, the average American
lifespan is shorter than the
developed world average;
we have fewer doctors per
person; and ordinary, middle-class people are often
unable to get the care they
need. During his 2008 campaign, President Obama
made it clear that he was
going to fight for health
care reform and followed
through on that promise,
signing the Affordable Care
Act (ACA) in 2010.
Through the ACA, President Obama addressed
health care on three levels:
cost, access and systemic
improvements. All three
elements are needed in order for every hardworking
person in this country to
have access to basic health
services for their family.
If costs are high or care is
difficult to access, people
go without, and without a
system that effectively promotes health, methods of
care can be inefficient.
One of the things President Obama has done to
help reduce health care
costs is to put new initiatives in place to cut the administrative costs of insurance. This means that more
of our money goes toward
receiving quality care – in
fact, 80 percent of each insurance dollar must now be
spent on health care, and
insurance companies may

The Affordable Care Act
is a horrible idea. Let me
tell you why.
T h e
bill
is
at least
2,000
pages
long. By
my own
calculations, it
would
weigh
m o r e
Kelsey Massa
than 75
pounds.
No member of Congress
read the thing, and our
president certainly didn’t
take time out of his busy
schedule to do so. Who
can forget when Nancy Pelosi trilled that the bill must
pass through Congress so
the American people could
find out what was in it?
Discomforting as the
circumstances surrounding Obamacare’s passing
may be, what’s even more
frustrating about Obama’s
health care reform is that,
quite simply, it’s not go-

be held accountable for unreasonable rate hikes. Insurance exchanges, which
come into effect in 2014,
will also reduce costs by
helping individuals and
small businesses find appropriate coverage. As of
2014, insurance companies
will also no longer be able
to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions, and in the meantime,
such individuals are able to
receive coverage through
a Pre-Existing Insurance
Plan.
In regards to health care
access, President Obama
has worked, through the
Affordable Care Act, to ensure that people are able to
get the care they need regardless of location, age or
medical history. Part of the
law allows young adults to
stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26. As a college student who will probably be paying off loans until then, this extension is a
blessing. Also, once the law
is in full effect, insurance
companies will no longer
be able to refuse coverage
due to gender or medical
background. The ACA also
includes provisions to encourage the development
and support of community
health centers, an important source of care for many
people, as well as the support of health care providers in rural communities.
Finally, the ACA contains
systemic measures such as
new procedures to cut down
on Medicare, Medicaid and
CHIP fraud, which will reduce the cost of the system
as a whole. As of 2015, physicians will be paid based on
the quality, not quantity, of
care they provide, thus improving patient outcomes.
The ACA also focuses on
preventative care; without
it, people who have insurance end up indirectly paying for those who don’t. For
example, if a hospital had
five emergency cardiac patients in 2010 and only one
of them had enough money

to pay for their visit, the hospital loses income. The hospital has to stay solvent to
keep running, so what must
it do? Raise prices. This is
why President Obama supports preventative care:
not only to keep us healthy,
but to keep costs down for
those who would otherwise
bear the burden of the uninsured.
What I’ve mentioned
above only brushes the
surface of the ACA. However, what it comes down
to is this: President Obama
believes that health care
should be affordable and
accessible for hardworking Americans of any background, and during his
first term in office, he has
fought to make that dream
a reality. Gov. Romney, on
the other hand, promises
to repeal the extraordinary
progress that’s been made,
making health care more
expensive and less accessible for millions of Americans. The choice is clear:
President Obama is better
for our health.

Mike Hogan / Opinion Editor

Faculty-administration tensions
A specter is haunting
education - the specter of
rankings. Such a specter
h a s
e v e n
come to
our very
o w n
Saint
Louis
U n i versity,
and the
havoc it
brings
Noah Berman with it
has the
power to change our campus - for the worse.
It is sneaky, the specter
of education-as-a-contest.
Most recently, it comes to
us disguised as a proposal
to swap out our tenure system (which gives our faculty security and the freedom to research in peace)
with a system in which they
would be subject to periodic performance reviews.
This would have disastrous
results: with no system of
protection or long-duration promotion for faculty,
it would be more or less
impossible to attract quality new hires. The proposal
would also result in a drop
in academic quality on campus, as professors handle
the new stress of the review
system. They would be
forced to publish a higher
quantity of papers rather
than quality papers, hurting
their own academic careers
and our education. The idea
here is to make it easier to
fire professors, limiting the
number of expensive promotions and expected pay
raises that take away profit.
Fortunately, the proposal was rescinded, but
it would not surprise me
if it returns. In the midst
of the chaos, the Board of
Trustees released a communiqué. They closed the
letter by insisting that they

supported the people (the
administration) who don’t
support the people (the faculty, us) that they also support (the same). All of this
is in the name of our “Strategic Plan.”
So, just what is this
“Strategic Plan” exactly?
A search of the SLU website brings up a document
called
“University-Level
Strategic Plan.” A search
of the document brings
up the word “education”
only twice, no mention of
the word “teach,” and two
mentions of “student.” The
document is concerned
entirely with ratings and
academic/research performance standards (of our
faculty and administration),

“

Education is not
something
that
you can reduce to
data-points on a
spreadsheet.

”

with assessment and review
listed as the prime goals
of our university. It is clear
that our administration’s
priorities are devoted solely
to the numbers -- data they
can use to show other people how great we are.
Education is not something you can reduce to data
points on a spreadsheet.
This is a case of missing the
point so seriously our leaders might well have circled
the globe twice, gone skiing
in Death Valley and surfing
in the Himalayas, then landed somewhere three miles
to the left of the point -- facing backwards.
Seeing it this way might

be profitable in terms of
rankings you can use for
advertising (and/or federal
funding, depending on the
school), but it does the students and faculty no good.
If professors are stressed
about output, output, output, then they can’t do as
good a job of teaching us,
so we suffer, too. In nonuniversity level education,
such a misunderstanding
is having disastrous effects
on students nationwide - in
short, standardized tests do
not take into account the
fact that students and teachers are people, rather than
education machines.
So what can we do? On
a national level, we need to
elect people who support
more schools and smaller
class sizes. On a local level, we need to support our
professors , which in turn
means supporting ourselves. We must stand up
for ourselves and our teachers; we need to make it clear
to the administration that
we need a good education
first and a good US News
and World Report ranking
last. We are here to learn if by doing so we boost our
school’s rating, so much so
the better, but that can’t be
the priority. We must write
to our parents, or alumni
we know, and ask them to
contact the administration
and voice a concern about
the dangers to our education. Assuming we go here
for purposes of bettering
ourselves, becoming more
knowledgeable about the
world, we need to stand up
for education for the sake
of education, not the sake
of our rank. As the president and vice presidents of
our university seem to care
only for rankings and campus appearance, we need to
show them that we are here
because we want to learn,
no matter the rankings.

ing to work. To quote my
favorite political writer, P.J.
O’Rourke, “No government
proposal more complex
than ‘This note is legal tender for all debts, public and
private’ ever works, and
that one hasn’t been working lately.” Obamacare in all
its complexity will redirect
an unthinkable amount of
power and money to Washington, and for what? It certainly won’t lower costs. If
Obama really wanted to do
that, he would have tackled medical malpractice
reform, taken measures
to sever the archaic ties
between employment and
health insurance, and removed restrictions on buying insurance across state
lines. Reforms like these
would open up the market
and reduce real costs without negatively affecting the
quality of medical care.
Instead of angering
plaintiff’s lawyers and employee unions, Obama took
the politically safe route and
directed collective outrage
at entities no one likes: insurance companies. Surely,
if every American citizen
had health insurance, then
health care costs would decrease. After all, uninsured
Americans who seek emergency treatment cost the
American taxpayer a pretty
penny every year. However,
President Obama fails to
realize, or refuses to acknowledge, that there may
be a rational explanation
as to why 46 million Americans are uninsured. (Just a
quick note, that number is
not completely accurate. 10
million of the uninsured are
not actually American citizens, so it’s a bit misleading
to count them as such. And
as many as 14 million uninsured Americans qualify
for social insurance from
Medicare, Medicaid and
other state-run programs,
they just have not yet been
enrolled. Always question
statistics, people.) Anyway,
perhaps the reason people
don’t have health insur-

ance is because they don’t
want to buy it. They have
crunched the numbers and
decided to go without. This
makes sense, as nineteento-twenty-nine-year-olds
are the largest and fastestgrowing segments of the
uninsured population. Their
entry-level jobs don’t come
with benefits, and they tend
not to have serious medical
conditions that insurance
would help pay for, so they
don’t see the need to purchase it.
Whether or not the decision to remain uninsured
is in any given individual’s
best interests is not for the
government to decide. And
yet Obamacare requires
citizens to purchase a product they may not need or be
able to afford. It imposes
a fine (or a tax, if you prefer) on those who refuse to
purchase health insurance.
People will choose to pay
the tax, because it will be
cheaper than purchasing
the insurance plan. This
tax increase will disproportionately affect the middle
class, and they will still be
uninsured when all is said
and done.
The CBO estimates that
Obamacare will cost $2 trillion over its first decade and
will leave 30 million Americans without health insurance. This is just unacceptable.
Speaking of things that
are unacceptable, I cannot
end this column without at
least mentioning the birth
control mandate. It’s a religious freedom issue if ever I
have seen one. The government cannot require a religious institution to provide
a service that directly conflicts with its beliefs. Why
people don’t understand
this concept, I couldn’t tell
you.
America simply cannot
afford the Affordable Care
Act. It must be repealed,
and Mitt Romney has made
it his goal to do just that. He
has my vote and he should
have yours.

Technology: Moving us backwards?
In this day and age, we
are programmed to think
that technology is an integral part
of
our
d a i l y
lives.
While
s o m e
t e c h nologies
are essential
in certain situBritta Norwick a t i o n s ,
this is
only to an extent. New
technologies in medicine
are advancing the field further than ever before. Businesses are finding simple
and easy way to communicate and network with
other businesses. Although
these relevant examples
show how technology can
be helpful in the workplace
and be an added benefit to
their respective fields, the
excessive use of technology
is definitely not necessary
in our personal lives.
We don’t really need to
have our cellphones within a foot of us at all times.
We don’t need to spend
excessive amounts of time
checking our email on our
iPads. And we don’t need
to constantly be updating
our Facebook or Twitter accounts from our laptops.
In reality, all of our timewasting activities, if eliminated, could free up more
time for other productive areas in our lives to do much
more than we ever thought
possible: exercising at the
gym, cooking a homemade
meal or spending quality time with family and
friends. All of these activities could be enjoyed daily
if we learned to live without
the unnecessary technology that ties us down.
But, does this obsession with technology rob

us from more than just our
precious free time?
The Merriam-Webster
dictionary defines technology as “a manner of accomplishing a task especially
using technical processes,
methods, or knowledge;
new technologies for information storage.”
If the proper use of technology allows us to truly
“accomplish a task” can we
really say that our personal
uses for technology— texting, tweeting, commenting,
checking email, etc.— allow
us to really accomplish anything worthwhile?

end to a distraction from being productive and efficient.
Instead of allowing us to
primarily accomplish tasks
and maintain or improve
efficiency, technology in
this strain does not move
us further into the future,
but rather moves society’s
potential for success backwards.
You might want to ask
yourself, “Do I use technology too much?” If you
think you don’t, try calculating the amount of time you
spend per month on unnecessary technological use.
According to The Telegraph, “Americans spend
more time surfing the
Internet than anyone else
the world, with users
Can we really say in
clocking up an average of
nearly 28 hours a month.”
that our personal Imagine what you
could do with 28 extra
uses for technolo- hours a month. The
possibilities are endless.
doesn’t even include
gy... allow us to re- This
the amount of time you
on useless iPhone
ally accomplish any- spend
apps or text messages to
your friends.
thing worthwhile?
If you find you waste
too much time on technological devices for internet use, the solution ultiAll inventions, since the
mately lies within you.
dawn of civilization, were
If you know that technoland are intended for a cerogy is a distraction for you,
tain use and are a product
turn it off, hide it or just
of advanced human knowlsimply keep it out of reach.
edge. But in contemporary
Without these devices readsocieties, our personal acily available, you’ll be able
tivities on our smartphones,
to focus on what you need
iPads, and computers actuto be doing.
ally distract us from accomThough there are many
plishing tasks. How are we
remedies for avoiding techsupposed to stay focused at
nology, there is no chance
work or be productive when
of its altogether disappearwe are constantly being disance. Today’s technoltracted by our own personal
ogy provides users with too
desire to use technology for
many entertaining activities
our private interests?
and is an endless source of
For this reason, technolcommunication and connecogy takes us in the wrong
tion with the outside world.
direction, away from an
In the end, it’s your decision
advancement of human
– do you want technology to
knowledge to achieve an
help, or hinder?

“

”

unewsonline.com

6 GAMES

CROSSWORD

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTIONS

SUDOKU

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTIONS

WORD SEARCH

U
SPORTS

WHO TO

CHEER

European Ryder
Cup Team

Courtesy of rydercup.com

The
Europeans
overcame a seemingly insurmountable
4-point deficit Sunday afternoon, shocking the United States
with victories in the
afternoon’s first five
matches. Justin Rose
highlighted the European’s comeback
with 3 lengthy putts
on the final three
holes to win his
match against Phil
Mickleson.
Martin
Kaymer capped off
the comeback with
a six-foot par putt to
beat Steve Stricker
and secure the cup
for Europe.

WHO TO

JEER
U.S. Ryder Cup
Team

Courtesy of NY Daily News

It was a brutal Sunday afternoon for the
Americans.
Brandt
Snedeker, Jim Furyk
and Steve Stricker,
three of the four captain’s picks, went a
combined 2-8-1. The
lowlight of the afternoon shined on Furyk, who bogeyed the
last two holes after
being one up. Six of
the day’s 12 matches
went to the final hole-The Americans won
just one of them.

WHO TO

FEAR
Greg Zuerlein
Rams kicker

Courtesy of bleacherreport.com

First, “Legatron”
set the franchise record with a 58-yard
field goal, then he
broke his own record with a 60-yarder. “Young G Z” has
made his first 12
field goal attempts,
including eight from
40+ yards (three of
those have been from
50+ yards). In an interview with The ITD
Morning After on
590 “The Fan” KFNS,
“Greg the Leg” said
he hit a 74-yarder at
Missouri Western.
By Brian Haenchen
Staff Writer

unewsonline.com

OCTOBER 4, 2012

Bill McDermott: A true SLU legend
Through 40 years, “Mr. Soccer” has left an indelible legacy on the game
By CHARLES BOWLES
Sports Editor

For anyone spending
time in the press box of
Robert R. Hermann Stadium, Bill McDermott’s voice
and soccer commentary
becomes a major part of
the evening. McDermott’s
passion and excitement for
the Billikens’ soccer team
is unmatched by anyone in
the press box, which is reflected in his commentary
throughout the game.
McDermott’s
voice
might be the most important voice among the thousands that attended the
homecoming game, not
just because of his position
as the men’s soccer public
announcer, but because his
depth of knowledge of the
game of soccer is greater
than anyone in the press
box and perhaps in the entire United States.
McDermott was the
color commentator for the
1994 and 1998 World Cup
for ESPN, announced the
first soccer game ever on
ESPN (consequently a SLU
soccer game), has been the
public announcer for the
men’s soccer team since
1972 and played for Saint
Louis University from 19671970, contributing to two
national championships in
1967 and 1969.
It is no wonder he is
called “Mr. Soccer” by
NBC’s Bob Costas. Despite
all of his accomplishments
both locally and nationally,
SLU is what McDermott
calls his first love.
“This has been such an
immense part of my life,
this is my first team,” McDermott said.
McDermott grew up in
North St. Louis in Walnut
Park, and played at St. Philip Neri, where McDermott
said it was a requirement to
play soccer.
“It was a sort of indoctrination; the schoolyard was
a proving ground for everyone who wanted to play soccer,” McDermott said.
It was there that McDermott first gained an upclose view of SLU soccer;
the “commissioner” at St.
Philip Neri was famous SLU
soccer player Don Ceresia.

Charles Bowles / Sports Editor

Bill McDermott sits atop Hermann Stadium to announce every Saint Louis University homecoming game. The SLU
graduate has been the public anouncer for the men’s soccer team since the 1972 season.
Ceresia acted as commissioner for the schoolyard
and determined when players were ready to move up
and play against better competition.
“If you proved yourself
to Don, you would then play
against the upper school
kids, and if you proved
yourself there, you then began to be part of the traveling team and play against
other CYC (Catholic Youth
Council) schools,” McDermott said.
McDermott’s interest in
SLU also came from spending time with his grandparents, watching SLU play
soccer games on the old
fairgrounds.
Eventually,
McDermott came to SLU
to play soccer under then
head coach Bob Guelker.
However, McDermott and
his fellow teammates were
soon shocked to learn that
Guelker was leaving to establish the soccer program
at Southern Illinois at Edwardsville.
“We were Bob’s last re-

cruiting class, but then
we learned that they were
bringing in Harry Keough
and Val Pelizzaro and everything changed,” McDermott said.
Besides watching SLU
play while he grew up, McDermott also watched the
St. Louis Kutis S.C. The
Kutis team was one of, if not,
the best teams in the nation
and dominated the soccer
circuit, winning multiple
national championships in
the 1950s. In fact, the Kutis
team was the designated
United States national team
in 1958 and played in the
World Cup that year. McDermott said Keough and
Pelizzaro were the best
players on the Kutis team
and that he grew up idolizing both of them.
“We knew what it meant
to have them as our coaches. We wanted to do the
best for our school and
family, but we really did not
want to disappoint Harry
and Val,” McDermott said.
McDermott and his

teammates did not disappoint. Under Keough and
Pelizzaro’s leadership, he
and his teammates won two
NCAA national championships in 1967 and 1969.
After a few years at the
Chicago School of Fine
Arts, McDermott returned
to St. Louis where he served
as an associate athletic director for SLU from 1972
to 1976 and began to serve
as the public announcer for
SLU men’s soccer games
in 1972. However, his national commentating for
soccer began when Ted
Kopler at KPLR Channel
11 approached McDermott
about being a color commentator for a North American Soccer League game.
“My first national game
that I covered was the St.
Louis Stars vs. Dallas Tornados. All I remember from
that game was that it was
hotter than hell,” McDermott said.
Forty years later, McDermott is still going strong
as the public announcer for

The bright lights of Hermann Stadium and the pressure of national rankings
did not deter the men’s soccer team during their homecoming game. The Billikens took care of business
and easily defeated Central
Arkansas 3-0.
The Bills (6-2) concluded
their non-conference season on a high note, scoring 10 goals in their last
three matches and defeating two nationally-ranked
teams during the course of
the non-conference season.
The Bills also matched their
win total from last season
with their victory over Central Arkansas. The Bills will
begin their Atlantic 10 conference season on Friday
against nationally-ranked
Xavier, followed by Dayton
on Sunday.
“I thought we played really well, we’re six and two.
It was a good win for us,”
Head Coach Mike McGinty
said. “It was a great end to
our out-of-conference season and a fantastic result,
but you don’t win any trophies in September.”
The match started off
slow, as both team battled
for possession of the ball,
but SLU had the upper
hand. After the slow start,
SLU broke through with
the first of its 3 goals in the
37th minute. The ball was
passed to Jon Roeckle, who
curled a beautifully placed
ball in the box to Robbie
Kristo, who headed the ball
past the Central Arkansas
keeper.
“It was a great ball in the
box,” McGinty said. “Robbie just went up and made
it his.”
The Bills went into halftime with the 1-0 lead.
After the halftime fireworks, the Bills created
their own “fireworks” on

Charles Bowles/ Sports Editor

Midfielder Michael Robson lines up for a corner kick against Central Arkansas. The Billikens impressed the huge Homecoming crowd with a 3-0 victory.
the field, scoring 2 more
goals.
In the 49th minute, with
the Bills pressuring Central Arkansas, the Bills
had a free kick, which was
well-defended by Central
Arkansas, but the ball was
regained by the Bills. David Graydon attempted to
control the ball, and then
tapped it behind him to
Alex Sweetin, who rocketed
a ball outside the box into
the net for the Bills’ second
goal of the night.
In the 66th minute, Kristo shot through the Central Arkansas defense and
tacked on his second goal of
the night as the Bills gained
a 3-0 advantage.

“I think [my performance] was all right. I
mean, I had two goals so it
worked out,” Kristo said.
The team now turns its
attention to the A-10 conference season. SLU men’s
soccer has a tough task
ahead. The team was predicted to finish fourth in the
A-10 preseason rankings.
“I like where we are at,
but these matches that we
just played doesn’t matter
now,” Kristo said. “Now it
is conference play so it is a
completely different story.
We start at 0-0 with a brandnew record and a brandnew sheet.”
SLU will play two nationally-ranked teams in

Charlotte and Xavier during their conference season
and the team has their last
three conference matches
at home, facing Charlotte,
George Washington and
Butler. If the Bills finish in
the top eight of the conference, then they will move
on to the conference tournament in Charlotte, N.C.
on Nov. 7-11.
The Bills will open their
A-10 season on the road
with No. 19 Xavier on Friday, and then travel to Dayton to play the Flyers on
Sunday. The Bills will play
their A-10 home opener
against Virginia Commonwealth University Friday at
7 p.m. at Hermann Stadium.

SLU men’s soccer, also doing play by play and color
commentary for Major
League Soccer’s Columbus
Crew. Amazingly, McDermott has also covered every
World Cup since 1970.
Perhaps the height of
his commentary career was
when McDermott was the
color commentator for the
1994 and 1998 World Cup
for ABC and ESPN. McDermott also said the best
game he has covered was
a second round game between Argentina and England in the 1998 World Cup.
“Both teams had their
history with the Falkland
Islands conflict. The ‘Hand
of God’ goal by Diego Maradona [of Argentina] in this
game, was amazing for various reasons,” McDermott
said.
The game went to a penalty kick shootout, which
Argentina won 4-3. However, the game is more
See “McDermott” on Page 8

The playoffs
finally pack
some parity
The Major League Baseball playoff table has been
set, and after enduring a fall
mar red
by
replacem e n t
referees
and
a
looming
National
Hockey
League
lockout,
spor ts
Brian Boyd
fans are
ready to
feast. Though the former
postseason parties invited
only the elite eight teams
from the regular season, it’s
time to make room for two
more. The hunt for October
glory graciously welcomes
an additional Wild Card
qualifier in each league.
While adding more
teams to the already lengthy
playoffs might evoke grumbles among fans, fear not.
The two Wild Card teams
in each league will have
one shot to advance to the
Divisional Series. Additionally, they’ll earn the dubious distinction of ‘best team
to sneak through the backdoor into the postseason’.
Before I go any further,
let us marvel at the fact
that both the Washington
Nationals and Baltimore
Orioles will be eligible to
compete for the World Series Trophy. Let that sink
in for a second. The Orioles
haven’t sniffed the postseason air in fifteen years. The
last time the Nationals were
in the playoffs, they weren’t
even the Nationals—their
last appearance came as the
Montreal Expos in 1981.
See “Playoffs” on Page 8

8 SPORTS

OCTOBER 4, 2012

unewsonline.com

Softball splits double-header with Rolla

Miguel Flores, from Mexico with love
By DJ BARGER
Staff Writer

Charles Bowles/ Sports Editor

Pitcher Julian Austin thows to home plate against Missouri University of Science and
Technology. Austin had a rough 4th inning, giving up 4 runs.
By DJ BARGER
Staff Writer

The Billiken women’s
softball team split a doubleheader on Sunday against
Missouri University of Science and Technology.
The Miners from Rolla,
Mo. took the first game in a
low-scoring affair.
Julian Austin pitched
well for the Billikens until
the top of the fourth when
she gave up four runs. The
knockout blow was a tworun home run from Miners designated hitter Becca
Strope.
The Billikens did not
put up much of a fight on
offense, as they were held
to no runs on just five base
hits.
The closest they came
to registering a run came
in the bottom of the second
inning, when they left runners stranded at second and
third base.
Kelsey Biggs led off with
a hit to left field. After the
left fielder took time getting to the ball, Biggs took

second. The next batter,
Alyson Brand, reached base
with a single, leaving runners at the corners with no
one out. With Brianna Lore
at the plate, Brand stole second, but Lore lined out to
the shortstop.
While the next batter, Olivia Roback, was at the plate,
Biggs was caught stealing
home in what appeared to
be a miscommunication
between the runner and
coach. Roback made an out
and was followed by Katie
Kroeger.
Kroeger popped out to
the pitcher, ending what
came to be the Billikens’
best scoring opportunity.
After the second inning,
the Billikens never got a
runner as far as second
base. The Miners also never mounted any offensive
threat after the fourth, and
the game passed quickly
with a final score of 4-0.
In the second game,
the roles were reversed
dramatically. After retiring
the Miners in the top of
the first, the Billikens got
started right away scoring

runs. The first batter, Jessica Buschjost, got on base
with a single. The very next
batter, Lindsay Friedman,
drove her in with a double.
Friedman was the offensive star of the game, as
she also drove in runs in the
second inning.
With two runners on
base and two outs, Friedman drove a pitch from Miners pitcher Becca Strope
deep over the center-field
wall for a home run.
The blast put the Billikens up 3-0 and knocked
Stope (the offensive hero
from the first game) from
the game in favor of Miners
reliever Amber Duncan.
In total, Friedman went
4-4, collecting three singles
and two RBIs. The Billikens
scored two insurance runs
in the fifth inning, making
the final score 6-0.
SLU will pick up action
with another doubleheader
at home this Saturday, Oct.
7. The first game, against
Southeast Missouri State
University, starts at noon.
The second game is at 4
p.m. against Missouri State.

America SCORES scores a world record
By TONY TRAINA
Associate Sports Editor

This past weekend, Saint
Louis University students
and thousands more nationwide bested the United
Nations.
If the number stands,
participants at Saint Louis
University’s Hermann Stadium and nine other nationwide locations set a world
record for the most people
dribbling a soccer ball at
one time.
Indeed, all the world
was a stage, as the recordsetting effort spanned
stadiums from Seattle to
New York, connected via
satellite. A reported 2,149
people dribbled simultaneously, topping the United
Nations’ previous record
set in the scorching Gaza
Strip.
America SCORES, a
nonprofit
organization
dedicated to bringing soccer and poetry to inner-city
youth, organized the effort.
All proceeds went directly
to the programs of the cities that participated in
order to continue their efforts of youth involvement
in soccer and poetry.
Participants
around
the country dribbled over
blades of grass to the
beat of America SCORES’
theme song, “I Believe in
Me,” which features the
youth of SCORES St. Louis.
In last year’s inaugural
effort, St. Louis contributed
428 dribblers to the effort,
the most of any city, silenc-

One of the more exciting
recruits to SLU’s athletics
teams this year has been
Luis Miguel Flores. Several
schools competed to bring
the freshman from Mexico
City to their campus, but a
variety of factors contributed to SLU’s win in the recruiting battle. Flores has
already proven an excellent
addition to the Billikens
men’s tennis team.
It might be easy for
someone who was heavily
recruited to be over-confident and self-centered, but
Flores is anything but that.
Always willing to praise others, Flores enjoys the experience of being at SLU and
being on a team.
Flores grew up in Mexico City and speaks Spanish and English. For a time
he played both soccer and
tennis, but tennis quickly
gained his favor.
“I would always get injured playing soccer. I decided tennis was healthier,”
said Flores. “I would play
every day except Monday
when the club was closed.”
As he became better at
tennis, Flores was invited
to play in tournaments in
both Mexico and the United States. Many of these
tournaments took place in
Texas and Florida, where
he quickly caught the eye
of many Division I coaches.
He reached as high as No.
3 in Mexico’s rankings for
juniors and won five state
championships.
But Flores’ eyes were
set on Saint Louis University, far away from Mexico
City, Texas or Florida. He
first met a former SLU player while training in Texas.

Courtesy of Billiken Media Relations

Miguel Flores is one of Saint Louis University’s new
freshman tennis players. Flores ranked as high as No.3 in
Mexico’s junior rankings.
After learning of SLU, he
decided to further research
the university and was even
more impressed. The campus, Coach Jon Zych and
the team all left him with
a desire to return as a student-athlete.
Having arrived at SLU,
Flores is very happy to be
here, saying, “there are a
lot of things to do.”
According to head coach
Jon Zych, Flores worked
exceptionally hard to become eligible for the fall
season. Flores is also excited to be on a tennis team,
something he isn’t used to.
“It’s kind of different,
but I really like it,” he said.
Flores added that he is impressed with his teammates
thus far. “Bobby [Kidera]…
plays at a really high level.
He’s always playing the
best tennis at the most important moments.”

McDermott: Still passionate after 40 years
Continued from Page 7

and a good joke. He was the
kind of person you always
wanted to spend time with
on that trip,” Dellacamera
said.McDermott still has
plenty of smiles and jokes
while in the press box of
Hermann Stadium. He frequently compares current
players to past SLU soccer
players and asks soccer
trivia questions that only he
knows the answer to.

memorable for David Beckham receiving a red card
after being shoved hard by
an Argentinian player and
subsequently kicking the
Argentinian player.
In his 40 years of covering soccer, McDermott has
seen a lot. He is a historian,
comparing memories and
past
players
to the current
players he sees
on the pitch as
he calls games
from his perch
atop Hermann
Played at SLU (1967-1970)
Stadium.
His
knowledge
is
Won two NCAA
a valuable asChampionships at SLU in
set and praised
1967 and 1969
ubiquitously by
other commenColor Commentator for
tators.
ESPN for the 1994 and
“Bill brings
1998 World Cup
a different perspective.
He
is the best hisColor Commentator for
torian of the
ESPN’s first televised
game,” soccer
soccer game (SLU vs.
announcer JP
UCLA)
Dellacamera
said. Dellacamera covered the
1998 World Cup
with
McDer“Join me and (Central
mott for ABC and ESPN.
Arkansas’) Daniel SampeDellacamera lived with
dro as we discuss the SpanMcDermott during the
ish Civil War,” McDermott
1998 World Cup for more
said as he practiced his rathan four weeks. He said
dio voice by using the difthat McDermott was a sinferent names of opposing
cere guy, devoted family
players in a mock converman and a superb soccer
sation about an intellectual
analyst.
topic.
“He always had a smile

Bill McDermott

Charles Bowles / Sports Editor

Some of the 2,149 participants who helped break the
record for most soccer balls dribbled simultaneously.
ing any notions of St. Louis’
sporting irrelevance.
America SCORES St.
Louis uses a unique approach to engage students,
allowing them to become
the masters of their own
fate. By partnering with urban public schools and training teachers to be effective
poetry and soccer coaches,
America SCORES hopes to
train students in creative
writing and leading. In addition, students participate in
community service projects
throughout the year. Youth
create original poems and
perform them at the annual
poetry SLAM.
While creating house-

hold names like David
Beckham and Walt Whitman is no easy task, America SCORES seems up to
the task after topping the
United Nations’ great accomplishment.
America SCORES is
back in action this Thursday with Fall Frenzy, its annual ode to autumn, at the
Medical Center Recreation
Complex. SLU students will
help teach soccer skills,
paint faces and provide
mentorship to program participants.
In a bit of poetic justice,
America SCORES has indeed scored their spot in
the record books.

Zych’s effect on the
team, according to Flores,
is very positive and professional. “He supports and
challenges us to be good at
tennis and school.”
Flores is majoring in
business administration in
the John Cook School of
Business. His favorite class
is Writing for International
Students, which has helped
him improve his English.
After leaving SLU, Flores
hopes to turn pro and follow
in the footsteps of his favorite players, Roger Federer
and David Ferrer. If his
dreams of going pro don’t
work out, Flores would like
to use his business degree
to be a stockbroker or financial adviser.
Flores and the rest of the
SLU men’s tennis team will
play next in a tournament
on Oct. 14, hosted by Southern Illinois at Carbondale.

McDermott’s
soccer
knowledge is what sets him
apart from everyone in the
room and in the rest of the
nation. His memory of details and sharpness for the
game is what makes him
different, and, of course, his
dedication to his university
is unquestioned. Even if he
was not the public announcer, McDermott says he
would be attending every
SLU soccer game.
“I would be going
anywhere. In 1972,
they needed an announcer and I have
been doing it ever
since,” McDermott
said.
Ironically, if McDermott were in
another
country
he would likely be
revered, hailed for
his sweeping soccer
knowledge;
however, in the United
States he does not
receive nearly as
much attention due
to soccer’s lack of
popularity.
However, when
one sees McDermott high above
Hermann Stadium,
reflecting and commentating on SLU soccer
past and present, one cannot help but feel McDermott is right where he belongs.
There is a reason he is
called “Mr. Soccer,” and after spending time with him,
it is clear why no one is
more deserving of the title.

Playoffs: Orioles, Nationals and Athletics make this year’s field an unlikely one
Continued from Page 7

The odds of both making
the 2012 playoffs were remarkably improbable at the
beginning of the year.
To put into context how
long the National’s franchise has gone without
a playoff berth, consider
this: not a single starter in
Washington’s rotation had
been born. The Nationals will face the Wild Card
one-game playoff winner:
the defending champion St.
Louis Cardinals facing the
Braves. The Braves are a
solid team looking to send
Chipper Jones off with another World Series ring, but

after last year, should anyone doubt the Cardinals?
They turn into the Space
Jam Monstars when the
playoffs start, transforming from (sometimes less
than) average to a well-oiled
destruction machine. With
Kyle Lohse on the bump, I’d
take the Cards over nearly
anyone in the league, let
alone the Braves.
Elsewhere in the league,
the NL West champion Giants take on the NL Central
champion Reds. Despite
Tim Lincecum’s brutal
season, the Giants are still
pretty good. Matt Cain, Mason Bumgarner and Ryan
Volgelsong are arguably the

best set of starting pitchers
in the league. If anyone
needs a break, Barry Zito
has finally started to earn
his $126 million contract.
Well, sort of. Five years late
is better than never…right?
Over in the American
League, the New York Yankees will face the winner
of the Orioles vs. Texas
Rangers one game playoff.
Detroit made a push in the
final days of the regular season to steal the AL Central
from the White Sox. The
Rangers did the exact opposite. They watched a fourgame division lead disappear in the final six games
of the season. Five Texas

losses and six Oakland Athletics wins later, the A’s are
division champions. I wanted to pick the A’s to win the
World Series, but then it hit
me. Bartolo Colon is their
third best pitcher. Game
over.
The Yankees are, well,
the Yankees. Boasting a
payroll worth the gross
domestic product of most
underdeveloped countries,
the Yankees posted the
best record in the American League. TThe Yanks
finished the season ranked
second in runs scored and
first overall in slugging
percentage. Their pitching
rotation might be the worst

in the playoffs, with only
C.C. Sabbathia and Hideki
Kuroda posting earned
run averages under 4 per
game. Who will be their
third starter in a seven
game series? That leaves
the Detroit Tigers and the
Oakland Athletics in the
final Division Series matchup. The question “Why
did the Tigers only win 88
games this season?” ranks
somewhere between “What
happened to Atlantis?” and
“Are they called pancakes
or flapjacks?” on the unanswerable question hierarchy. I offer two hypotheses.
The first contends that the
Tigers, inspired to become

more like their animal mascot, crouched stealthily in
the shadows for 150 games
while waiting to pounce and
rip the hearts out of White
Sox fans everywhere.
The second more likely
explanation is that the back
end of their starting rotation didn’t come around
until the last month of the
season. With Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and
Doug Fister shoring up the
rotation along with an improving Anibal Sanchez, the
pitching should continue to
trend upward.
Throw in their ridiculous
offense, and who can challenge the Tigers?

U
SCIENCE

TRUST
or
BUST?

Bacteria and
Germs
MYTH:
It takes five seconds
for bacteria to cling to
dropped food.
One. Two. Three. Four.
Five. That’s how long it is
typically considered to take
for bacteria to transfer from
the floor onto a piece of
food. In all reality though,
that bacteria is already on
your cracker before you
even kneel down to retrieve
it. Ninety-nine percent
of bacteria are transferred
almost immediately, making
the time of contact obsolete.
Factors that do contribute to
the contamination include
the type of food, floor, and
bacteria. Maybe next time
just let the dog get it.
BUST

MYTH:
The toilet seat is the
dirtiest thing in a
public restroom.

Surprisingly, the toilet
seat is actually one of the
cleanest things in a public
restroom. The University of
Arizona published a study
revealing that a public toilet
seat has an average of 49
bacteria per square inch, low
in comparison to the 6,267
located on the bathroom
faucet handle. Other hot
spots include the door latch,
the sinks, and even the air
once the toilet is flushed.
BUST

MYTH:
Sponges don’t clean,
they only spread
germs around.

While sponges are
efficiently mopping up
your kitchen counter they
are simultaneously picking
up germs and bacteria—
lots of it. A sponge can
contain 10,000,000 or more
fecal bacteria, making this
cleaning utensil one of the
most germ infested objects
in the house. It isn’t too
difficult to believe when one
considers that a sponge is
wet and just picks up more
fuel for the bacteria to thrive
on. Kill these bacteria by
microwaving the sponge,
ensuring that it is damp
before putting it in.
TRUST

MYTH:
Antibiotics will help
treat a cold or flu.

This reads like a tricky
true or false biology exam
question. Antibiotics will
only fight bacteria. Coughs,
sore throats, earaches and
all colds and flus are caused
by viruses. So circle false,
because antibiotics will not
work on viruses and won’t
aid in the recovery process.
BUST

Walking around campus,
you might come across of
the bare-naked statues, you
could possibly encounter
your favorite professor
or there is the chance
you might run into your
friend. But what you are
absolutely sure to come
across is animal life. There
are so many animals on
campus that the daily bustle
of campus life is being
jeopardized.
Charles Dickens wrote a
historical novel in which a
bird from the Corvus genus
was able to talk; Edger Allen
Poe wrote a narrative poem
about a bird in the same
genus having a similar gift.
Come fall, however, when
birds of the Corvus genus
descend onto Saint Louis
University, the only things
talking are the students and
faculty; and they talk about
how the birds are such a
nuisance.
While
these
aerial
creatures may be annoying,
they
are
extremely
intelligent and social. As
students, the draw of free
food will take us to places
and meetings that we have
no desire to participate
in. Crows do the same –
flocking to any backyard,
garbage can or tree to
gather free grub.
And if crows are dining
with you, make sure there
is enough to go around.
In one nesting season
a family of crows eats
roughly 40,000 caterpillars,
armyworms and any other

John Schuler/ Photo Editor

A squirrel on campus opens wide. To attack an opponent? Simply yawning? Showing off those pearly whites? Who knows, these
critters are unpredictable.
insect it can wrap its beak
around. Consider crows
to be nature’s garbage
disposal.
Campus does have a
lot of trashcans and food
scraps but that isn’t the
main reason we see the
black clouds hovering in

Biology meets booze
with fermentation
alcohol exist – wine, beer
and spirits – and each uses
a slightly different variation
of this fermentation process
Campus
runs
on
to achieve booze bliss.
science. Where would we
Ferment grapes and
be without computers or
the end result is wine. Feed
cell phones? The invention
yeast to barley and beer is
of the light bulb has saved
made. Tequila, vodka, gin
us loads of trouble and
and whiskey are distilled
candle wax.
And there
from simple fruit or grain
is the obvious biological
mixtures. But if it were this
life saver, photosynthesis
easy everyone would be
stemming from our wellmaking it in their closet.
watered plant life on West
All three alcohols begin
Pine.
Credit the study
by crushing the sugars
of science for all of these
necessary to fuel the
necessities. Appreciate it.
yeast. This isn’t the sugar
Understand it. Respect it.
we put in our cookies or
Because once the weekend
morning coffee; depending
rolls around, science takes
on the food used, it is a
on another essential roll to
combination of glucose,
most college kids – alcohol.
sucrose, or fructose – the
Ignore the risk factors
three simple sugars found
and dangers of drinking for
in carbohydrates.
a minute. Many of us have
The
grapes
are
been through D.A.R.E. or
smashed while grains are
S.H.A.R.P
ground
by now, and
for
beer
appreciate
and spirits
the beverage
creating
for what it is
m o r e
Appreciate
the
– an artistic
surface
c r e a t i o n beverage for what area
for
rooted
in
the yeast
biology.
to attack.
T h e is it -- an artisic
N o w
b a s i c
is where
process of creation rooted in t h i n g s
alcoholic
begin
to
fermentation biology.
differ. The
is
the
grapes
conversion
for
wine
of
sugars
will head
to
energy,
directly
producing
to
the
ethanol and
fermentation tank while
carbon dioxide as waste
beer and spirits need to be
products of the cell. This
babysat for a while before
anaerobic
performance
being ready to ferment.
is responsible for rising
The ground grains must
bread dough and producing
first be converted into
ethanol fuel but most
fermentable sugars, done
importantly, the alcoholic
so by boiling the grains
beverages we know and
in water at time-sensitive,
love.
specific temperatures.
For those without any
During this time is
chemical or biological
when flavors and additional
background, alcohol is
ingredients are added.
a clear liquid at room
For instance, hops will be
temperate that is highly
added to beer for a kick
flammable — so flammable
of bitterness. A heap of
that it can be used as a fuel
honey tossed into a barrel
source. It is also less dense
of whiskey, making that
than water but it does
burn a little sweeter and
easily dissolve, making
smoother.
it convenient to mix with
It is then that the yeast
Kool-Aid.
can be added to begin all the
Not all types of alcohol
hard work of making the
would pair well with fruit
punch though.
Three
See “Fermentation” on Page 10
different categories of

trees. As colder months
approach, the birds begin
to form large winter roosts
in urban settings.
The
city offers warmth and
protection from the harsh
winds and bitter cold in
rural areas.
These omnivores have

some competition for the
biggest nuisance on campus
though.
Cockroaches,
better
known as the Hexapods
from Hell, will eat next to
anything – soap, paint, dead
animals, you name it. These
insects fall in the order

Coleoptera, which includes
more species than any other
order, constituting almost
25 percent of all known life
forms. About 40 percent of
all described insect species
See “Animals” on Page 10

Back-breaking backpacks
The carrying costs of lugging your books

By GABBY GEERTS
Science Editor

“

”

John Schuler/ Photo Editor

A student showcases just how large our backpacks can get. In most cases, the backpack is wider than
the carrier itself.
By KATHLEEN KAYSEN
Staff Writer

Midterms are around the
corner, which means many
of us are loading every
textbook we haven’t opened
yet into our backpacks
and heading to the library.
Have you ever thought
of the effect the weight
of your backpack has on
your spine, especially when
carrying a heavy bag is a
daily occurrence?
According to the New
York Times, years of
carrying a heavy backpack
heightens a person’s risk
for stress fractures in the
back, inflammation in the
growth cartilage, back and
neck strain, nerve damage
in the neck and shoulders
and chronic poor posture.

When a person wears
a heavy backpack, the
weight of it pulls the
person backwards, and he
or she may arch the spine
in response to this. The
arched position compresses
the spine, pressing the
vertebrae on the discs
between each of them.
If a person responds
to the backward pull by
leaning forward, this leads
to bad posture and rounded
shoulders.
Maintaining
these positions multiple
times a day and through
many years of schooling is
what causes a problems to
develop.
The best preventative
measure for this issue is to
purchase a well-designed
backpack. This includes
wide, padded, adjustable
shoulder straps to widen

the surface area to which
pressure will be applied
Also,
choosing
a
backpack that is no bigger
than what is necessary
encourages you to only
carry what you really need,
instead of seeing how much
you can fit in one bag.
Adjusting the shoulder
straps so that the bottom
of the filled backpack is
no lower than four inches
below the waist makes
the weight sit evenly and
centered on your back
Allowing the backpack to sit
lower may cause a person to
lean back if the backpack is
heavy enough.
Finally, it is best to carry
the backpack with both
straps on the shoulders,
See “Backpack” on Page 10

Flu season is upon us.
Beginning in September
and lasting as late as May,
the flu often hits its peak
in January or February.
In order to keep yourself
healthy, it’s best to know
the fast facts about the flu.
How does it spread? What
are the classic signs and
symptoms? How can you
protect yourself before
you get sick? Is having
the flu even that big of a
deal? Being aware of the
answers to these questions
and following preventive
measures are your best
bets for keeping the flu at
bay all season long.
According to the Centers
for Disease Control and
Prevention, flu viruses
spread by droplets that
travel through air from one
person’s sneeze or cough or
even during conversation to
another person’s mouth or
nose. While it is possible
to catch it from touching
surfaces
previously
touched by others with a
flu virus, it is less common.
Additionally, an infected
individual can spread a
virus up to a day before he
or she knows they are sick
and from five to seven days
after becoming sick.
If the virus is floating
through the air, how can
you stay safe? First, hand
washing is the number one
way to prevent spreading
the virus. By keeping your
hands clean, you lessen
your chances of passing the
virus into your own mouth
or nose. Also, while you
should try to avoid coughing
or sneezing directly into
your hands, washing your
hands prevents others from
coming in contact with your
germs.
Another
practical
preventive measure is to
keep your body healthy in
other ways in order to make
it strong enough to fight off
viruses or at least lessen

Center For Disease Control

A close up look at an influenza virus, virion, through the lens of a transmission electron micrograph.
This particular influenza virus is a single-stranded RNA organism
the severity of the disease
if you catch it. Regular
exercise, eating enough
fruits and vegetables for
vitamins, not smoking and
cutting down on alcohol
consumption all build up
your
immune
system,
instead of suppressing its

Fermentation: Appreciation
for alcohol alchemy
Continued from Page 9

alcohol. Fermentation is a
very sensitive process and
any outside disturbances
of oxygen, bacteria or
temperature fluctuation can
throw it out of balance.
For
this
reason,
it
is
imperative
that
fermentation take place
in an airtight, sanitized
container in an area of
consistent
temperature.
The exact temperature
depends on the desired
product outcome but yeast
does die at 140 degrees
Fahrenheit and slows to the
point of stopping around 55
degrees.Anxiously wait for
a few weeks and alcohol will
be made.
However, it isn’t ready
for consumption.
Most
alcohols will be transferred
to
another
storage
container where secondary
fermentation and in the
case of beer, carbonation,
occur.
This is to let the flavors
merry and to ensure
complete
fermentation.
Again, length of storage
is dependent on desired
outcome but it can range
from as little as a week to a
couple of years. Patience is
a virtue in this business.
Beer and wine are then
ready to package, distribute
and consume. Spirits, on
the other hand, go through
an additional process called

distillation. Since alcohol
evaporates at a lower
temperature than water, it
is boiled and the vaporized
alcohol travels down a
column.
This column is cooled
externally which causes the
vaporized alcohol to return
to the final liquid state.
In the end though, what
really matters is the buzz
the alcohol will create.
Beer has the lowest
amount of alcohol, ranging
from four-six percent on
average, making it easy to
chug in high quantities.
Spirits range from a 45-90
percent alcohol meaning
it can knock you over
quickly while wine falls
in the middle, ranging
from 7-15 percent alcohol
with its main draw being
the classiness it portrays.
As an added bonus it is
hypothesized that a glass
of alcohol, particularly red
wine, a day may be good for
our health. So guzzle away
and keep the doctor away.
When we get our
hands on these beverages
not much time is given to
appreciate the drink, let
alone understand it.
But by understanding
the hard work and time,
appreciation for the drink
will follow. So don’t only
thank Anheuser Busch
or a fifth of bottom shelf
liquor for your fun; thank
the science that made it all
happen.

Help fill our issues.
ads.unews@gmail.com

abilities.
Getting vaccinated for
the flu is also an important
preventive measure. Flu
shots
are
inactivated
vaccines injected by needle.
The flu shot is offered
starting
in
September
and continues to be

throughout flu season. It is
recommended by the CDC
that every person 6 months
and older be vaccinated,
especially those in high
risk categories such as the
elderly, pregnant women,
health care workers and
those with certain pre-

existing chronic conditions.
Well, you did all you
could to try to fend it off,
but you think you still
caught the flu. How do you
know for sure? Signs and
symptoms include fever,
chills, cough, sore throat,
runny nose, body aches,
headaches, fatigue and less
commonly, vomiting and
diarrhea.
Remember that it is not
necessary to have all of
these symptoms, even a
fever, to have the flu. There
are various diagnostic
tests the doctor can do to
verify you have the flu,
but they are not always
accurate. Often, they are
not necessary because the
doctor will likely follow the
same course of treatment
whether you have the flu
or a respiratory infection.
He or she may prescribe a
decongestant, pain reliever,
or nasal spray that is
stronger than what you can
buy over the counter, but
since the flu is a virus, there
is no antibiotic.
If a diagnosis is not
always performed, how
serious is the flu?
Its
severity
ranges
from season to season,
depending
on
several
factors: what flu viruses are
spreading, how much of the
vaccine is available, when
the vaccine is available,
how many people get
vaccinated, and how well
the flu vaccine is matched
the flu viruses that are
causing illness that season.
When someone in a highrisk category contracts the
virus, it becomes a more
serious situation. It affects
each person differently, and
it can lead to hospitalization
and, in some cases, death.
Overall, it is best to take
every preventive measure
and to get vaccinated
in order to avoid the flu
completely. By doing so,
you are not only keeping
yourself safe, but you are
also protecting those you
come in contact with often.

Animals: SLU is home to diverse group

Photo Courtesy of Wm Jas

Cockroaches, scientifically known as Blattaria, thrive in warm
buildings, particularly the dorms on campus.
Continued from Page 9

are
cockroaches.
The
most populous insect on
earth has not spared our
university. No matter if you
live in Reinert, Griesedieck,
Marguerite or the Village,
there is a story about
cockroaches; you just have
to dig deep enough into the
cracks in the wall.
Unlike
crows,
cockroaches are around
the whole year. When they
are not bustling around
outside, they are inside the
dorms and cafeterias.
Cockroaches are most
often seen in the dorms
because there is an ample
amount of food and it

is warmer. Dorms also
provide the cockroaches
protection from natural
predators.
And once it is safely
inside, killing a cockroach,
short of stomping on it,
is
extremely
difficult.
Cockroaches are one of,
if not the most, hardy
insects on Earth. Some
species can survive on zero
food for about a month;
others scrape by with only
consuming the glue on the
back of postage stamps.
This survival mechanism
is credited to the slow cell
division – with juvenile
cockroaches only going
through cell division on a
weekly basis at best.
It isn’t necessary to

live on campus to spot
the abundance of our
most famous animal – the
squirrel.
These
tree-huggers
belong to a family of
medium-sized
rodents
called the Sciuridae. The
family includes chipmunks,
woodchucks and squirrels.
Squirrels are indigenous
to Africa and America.
But just because they are
indigenous, does not mean
all students welcome them.
The distaste for the
SLU squirrel is rooted in
jealousy. How is it that an
animal eats better than I do?
Well, the crows only
come once a year and the
cockroaches are trapped
inside, leaving all our
garbage up for grabs. And
since squirrels can’t digest
cellulose, a component of
plant cell walls, it relies on
protein, carbohydrate and
fat for sustenance.
Oddly enough, those are
the foods that the student
body consumes a lot of.
And since there aren’t nuts
falling of the palm trees for
these little guys to store,
they feast on our leftover
fast food.
Approach a squirrel with
caution next time it snacks
on your treats though.
Some predatory behavior
has been observed in
various squirrel species.
While it isn’t common,
it could result in a harsh
bite that is full of foreign
bacteria and disease.
Animal life is impossible
to avoid. We tend to forget
that the animal’s homes
were here before our
university buildings were.
When we forget that they
were here first, we forget to
give them the respect they
deserve.
So next time you are about
to complain about the
squirrels,
cockroaches
or crows, remember this:
Mizzou has rodent and
bat problems, making our
creature
friends
more
bearable.

10

Mosquito
bites spread
West Nile
By BINDU PARUCHURI
Staff Writer

It’s that time of year again
when the rain boots come
out, the umbrellas pop open
and the rain ponchos go on.
With this rain season
comes not only puddles
to splash around in but
mosquitoes in droves.
Because many of them
carry West Nile virus,
mosquitoes are currently a
great danger.
According to the Center
for Disease Control, West
Nile virus is contracted
from mosquitoes feeding
on infected birds. From
there, when the female
mosquito feeds on a human
or animal subject, the
virus spreads more widely.
Unfortunately, there is no
treatment for this virus yet.
There
are
many
symptoms
associated
with this virus making it
more difficult to diagnose.
The CDC defines serious
symptoms as having a high
fever, convulsions, muscle
weakness and paralysis.
Milder
symptoms
are
defined as fever, body aches
and swollen lymph nodes.
Apart from death, in the
most severe cases, severe
irreversible
neurological
damage can occur.
Many people do not
exhibit symptoms.
If
symptoms develop, they
develop between three and
14 days.
The greatest risk of
getting West Nile virus
comes from spending time
outside unprotected. To
be fully protected and to
avoid being bitten, apply
bug spray all over yourself.
Also, cover the areas of
your body that are prone
to coming into contact with
stagnant water.
Moreover,
avoid
spending too much outside
during the dusk and dawn
because
of
increased
risk during this time. In
addition, adding netting
over dorm windows or
avoiding the opening of
windows will greatly reduce
the risks of the presence of
virus-carrying mosquitoes.
There have already been
over 50 reported cases
in Illinois these past two
months and 1,600 cases
this past summer, making
it the worst summer for
West Nile virus since 1999.
Although this virus is rare,
it is extremely deadly and
caution should be taken.

Backpacks:
Weighing the
health effects
Continued from Page 9

instead of letting it hang
on just one shoulder. This
allows the weight to be
distributed evenly in the
center of the body.
Other
preventative
measures
outside
the
backpack itself focus on
treating your back well.
Examples include lifting the
backpack and other heavy
items by bending the knees
and lifting with the quads
instead of with the back, not
overloading the backpack
with unnecessary items and
placing the heaviest items
in the backpack closest
to your back to keep the
weight centered and close.
Also,
making
good
posture a part of your
lifestyle, not only when you
are wearing the backpack,
makes it feel more natural
and effortless. Standing and
walking with the shoulders
back, the breastbone tilted
up and out, and the stomach
in, keeps the back safe and
healthy.
Now all you have to
worry about is how you’re
going to read all those
textbooks in time for the
exam.

U
ARTS

OUT

unewsonline.com

45 restaurants give a taste of STL
City’s 42nd festival celebrating local food, art and wine
Get a “taste” of these restaurants near campus!

The annual Taste of St. Louis was held in Soldier’s Memorial this past weekend. The festival
featured food from 45 restaurants, a culinary competition featuring, a music stage, and the new
Grand Tasing Event. (above) An attendee tastes her meal at the festival. (right) A worker at the Taste
prepares food to sell.

The lost art of
drinking tea
By HILARY KORABIK
Copy Editor

As the crisp autumn
weather is slowly settling
in, squashes, apples and
pumpkin-flavored
delicacies are cropping up everywhere. While it can be hard
to find something more
satisfying than a slice of
pumpkin bread, fall weather
necessitates a hot beverage
that may have been ignored
during the warm summer
months: tea.
According to teamuse.
com, iced tea makes up 85
percent of the United States
tea market. Iced tea originated early on in American
history, when people needed something to cool themselves down during the
sweltering southern summers. However, now that
the temperature has significantly dropped, it’s the perfect time to exchange that
icy-cool drink for a nice,
warm ‘cuppa’, as the Irish
call it. Yes — the Irish love
their tea almost as much as
the English.
Of course, the Boston
Tea Party is a great story
from U.S. history. The men
dressed as American Indians said, “Take your tea,
and shove off,” clarifying
their view of England, if
anyone didn’t already know.
It’s clear from the structure of U.S. government
and society in general that
any semblance to English
culture is avoided if at all
possible. But if the people
Republic of Ireland, who
fought for freedom much
longer than the patriots,
can accept that English tea

culture is one good thing to
adopt for themselves, then
no U.S. citizen should hesitate to follow suit.
However, it was surely
a good thing that rebels
threw the tea overboard,
otherwise the U.S. citizens
might have been stuck
drinking English Breakfast
all the time. Unlike that of
the English, American tea
culture has many Asian influences, which adds not
only variety, but also numerous health benefits to a
well-rounded tea diet. Ginger tea is good for an upset
stomach, green tea takes
care of numerous health
concerns, hibiscus tea can
nip that high blood pressure in the bud and oolong
tea can lower the levels of
bad cholesterol.
Besides, in this individualistic culture, drinking tea
could help us to take a break
and to rebuild the community that is often forgotten.
The United States, sadly,
has lost the Art of Drinking Tea. Here, tea is never
served as an afternoon essential. The days of tea parties are long-gone, but tea
dates and tea chats don’t
have to be. There’s something so comforting about
curling up with a cuppa and
just talking and relaxing.
Additionally, tea is very versatile drink. One can drink
it alone or in a group, with a
meal, or by itself.
So next time you’re cramming for a test, curl up with
a cup of tea. You’ll get just
as much caffeine as from a
cup of coffee, but when it
comes to health benefits,
tea’s got the win in the bag
— literally.

John Schuler/ Photo Editor

Audiences fell quickly for Hansard

Glen Hansard at a music workshop in the summer of 2005.
By FRANCIS
MCDONALD
Staff Writer

It was a flawless evening.
Glen Hansard is an actor
and musician best known
for his performance in the
Oscar-winning film, “Once.”
Last Tuesday, Sept. 25, he
performed at The Pageant.
Although Hansard’s most
popular song is his soft and
powerful duet with Marketa
Irglova titled “Falling Slowly,” his range of music varies drastically, as exhibited
at his concert last Tuesday.
Hansard hails from Ireland, where he has been
writing music since he was
13 years old. He has been
famous in Ireland for many
years as the lead singer of
the rock band The Frames;
however, his acoustic music
is what made him famous
in the United States. There-

fore, the crowd that was
present at the show consisted of a wide array of fans,
from teenagers to senior
citizens.
The venue was set up
with seats filling every inch
of space, an unusual setup
for a concert at The Pageant. After the first song or
so, Hansard invited anyone
to stand in the front (directly in front of people sitting
in their front-row reserved
seats). For the younger fans
who were in the front, (I, of
course, being one of them),
the concert was a heck of an
experience. I did, however,
feel bad for the older-aged
fans that probably could not
see the stage very well over
the many fans standing in
front of them.
Hansard was the greatest live act I have ever seen.
He opened with four new
songs off of his solo album

Photo courtesy of Jana @ simulacra.cz

that was released in June
2012 titled “Rhythm and
Repose.” The recordings
of these songs, although
great, do not quite capture
Glen in concert. The complaint about his solo album
from some reviewers and
fans is that the beautiful,
acoustic, passionate yelling
that drew in his American
fan base was very minimalistic. However, in concert,
he extended the songs, adding his yelling whenever he
saw fit. For those who were
not previous fans of Glen
Hansard, the yelling might
have been too much for
them without a forewarning, but for those who have
seen the movie “Once” and
loved the music from it, the
concert would be very enjoyable.
See “Hansard” on Page 13

12

ARTS

unewsonline.com

OCTOBER 4, 2012

Dancers fill streets of Grand Center
SLU theatre kicks off Fall with
“Wonder of the World” this week
By KRISTIN McGUIRE
Staff Writer

Hosted by Grand Center,
Inc. and sponsored by Wells
Fargo Advisors, the annual
Dancing in the Street Festival returned for its sixth
year this past Saturday.
From 1 to 8 p.m., visitors
got a taste of the diverse
dance talent that St. Louis
has to offer.Dancers were
presented on three separate stages on Grand Boulevard, between Lindell and
Delmar boulevards. This
free festival even offered a
shuttle service to and from
the Taste of St. Louis at Soldiers Memorial.
The festival featured
over 1,000 dancers from 80
regional and local companies. Non-stop performances could be seen between
1-6:30 p.m. Genres like tap,
ballet, modern and jazz,
salsa, belly dancing, clog
and Bollywood could be enjoyed by the audiences.
The hip-hop and break
dancing seemed to be the
crowd favorite of the event
with massive crowds surrounding the stage in order
to witness some big name
artists, as well as live disc

Photo courtesy of John Lamb

Cast members reherse a scene from “Wonder of the World” which makes its public debut Friday,
Oct. 5.
By SARAH MALLICK
Staff Writer

Strap on your seat belts
for the wild ride that is
“Wonder of the World,” the
first show of this year’s theater season at SLU!
Written by David Lindsay-Abaire, this quirky, hilarious and absurdist play
illustrates just how unexpected life can be, and how
people work to find meaning in that chaos.
The main character of
the play, Cass, is attempting
to do just that: find her purpose in life.
Cass is a happy-go-lucky
and optimistic woman
who sets out to achieve
her dreams and life goals.
Along the way, she meets
a motley crew of people,
including Lois and Captain
Mike. Lois is the antithesis
of Cass; she’s gloomy and
more realistic.
Oh, and Cass meets Lois
when the latter is deliberating suicide via barrel over

Niagara Falls. The two characters embark on an exciting escapade, full of highs
and lows, and discover the
true meaning of life.
Senior Gabrielle Greer,
who plays Cass, said that
throughout
the
whole
play “Cass is searching for
something, something elusive, for real happiness…
but that in the end she has
an epiphany about life, that
true happiness is not in the
destination but rather the
journey.”
In a way, the play discounts the idea that “the
grass is always greener on
the other side,” and that
life is more than a series of
goals being checked off a
list.
According to Greer, the
cast was extremely close.
“There was never a dull
moment, and it was a most
hilarious play with a strong
underlying message.”
The cast also held an earlier performance for Prison
Performing Arts, a program that tries to integrate

&A

Q

performing arts into the
lives of imprisoned children
and adults. One inmate took
away a special message
from the play, which was,
“The biggest thing about
life is that no matter what
life throws you, whatever
you’re searching for, it’s not
as important as the people
you meet along the way and
who you’re with when you
get there.”
Evident in that idea is
that the play has a poignant
and heartfelt undertone in
the midst of all the amusement.
It will cause the viewer
to slow down and really
wonder what is happening
in their life, whether or not
they are truly living in the
moment.
“Wonder of the World”
introduces the idea that
the while grass may appear
prettier on the other side, it
actually probably isn’t, and
the grass may be just as
wonderful where you are
standing if you made it that
way.

jockeys. From 6:30-8 p.m.,
live music and open dance
space was offered for visitors to show off their own
moves.
SLU senior Mary Lee
Ptacek attended the festival
because of its close proximity to SLU’s campus. “I
really liked the hip-hop performances, especially when
they fused dubstep and
classical music … I will definitely be back next year!”
said Ptacek.
One of the big names of
the festival was Gentleman
of Vision, a group that has
won the national step championship two times. Gentleman of Vision consists of
58 males from high schools
around the St. Louis metropolitan area. The group
hopes to instill leadership
values and encourage academic excellence and community service involvement
among its members.
Another exciting guest
was Nick Gates, founder
of Hip Hop Fanatics and
a Season 1 finalist on “So
You Think You Can Dance.”
Visitors saw his break
dance showcase on the largest stage of the three.
Michael Kim, a break

dancer from St. Louis,
danced with Gates during the festival. Kim has
been teaching hip-hop and
performing modern dance
around St. Louis for the past
three years, but this was his
first time performing in the
festival.
“The energy of the crowd
is high … this is a great
atmosphere for us to perform,” said Kim.Originally
from Los Angeles, Kim had
been a crowd member at
the festival for a few years
before he was asked to perform this year.
“People should attend
Dancing in the Street because you will only see
these dances once in a lifetime … they are never the
same!”
Our own SLU step team
performed in the festival as
well. Stepping in the festival for the first time was
SLU junior, Jared Castillo.
“It was a great experience! [The crowd] was really receptive… it helped that
part of the crowd was actual
SLU students who came
over to the festival to come
and support us. I would love
to do it again next year!”
Castillo said.

English department hosts poet

John Schuler/ Photo Editor

Poet Tom Pickard gives a talk about the craft of poetry in DuBourg Hall on Sept. 25.
By MAGGIE NEEDHAM
Associate Arts Editor

The English department
invited poet Tom Pickard
to SLU to be this year’s
Jean Drahmann Writer-inResidence. This two week

position entailed giving a
poetry reading and a craft
talk, as well as visiting some
of the department’s poetry
classes.
Students and faculty
alike gathered in the fourth
floor of DuBourg for Pick-

ard’s poetry reading on
Sept. 25, where he read selections from his works. His
poetry is celebrated for its
range of emotion and style,
See “Pickard” on Page 13

Grouplove talks new tour
Just as Grouplove’s fall 2012 U.S. Tour kicks off, Joe Stein called up Ryan Rabin,
the band’s charismatic and talented drummer and producer, to discuss the origins of the band, their upcoming show in St. Louis and what’s in store for us next.

JOE STEIN: Hey Ryan! We’re all excited for your upcoming show at The Pageant here in St. Louis. Before I get
into the tour, I want to ask a bit about the band as a
whole. I understand that Grouplove’s formation as a
band wasn’t quite the typical situation. Could you fill
us in on how Grouplove came to be?
RYAN RABIN: Yeah, you’re right, it was kind of strange
and fateful. We ended up, a couple summers ago, in a
little mountain village on the island of Crete in Greece
for a sort of trial artist residency they were having. Basically, some people tried to start up this community
where artists come and paint or musicians come and
play music. They rented out some abandoned homes
in sort of a run-down village. We came from all parts of
the world and all just became quick friends out there.
We kept in touch afterwards and about a year later
everybody came to visit Andrew and I out in L.A. We
just started recording some stuff for fun, really. It still
wasn’t really a band at that point. Only after that, once
everybody had moved into my pa ent’s house and we
had recorded seven or eight songs, we realized we really had something special.
JS: Each band has kind of a distinct way in which they
write songs. Can you explain the typical writing process of Grouplove?
RR: Well, there isn’t really one typical way that we go
about it. It’s different for every song because everybody in the band is a writer. It all really depends on
what particular idea people are throwing together at
that moment in time. Like, someone would come to

me with a melody idea, or even somewhat of a completed song, then we would either completely rework
it and change it around or build off of someone’s simple idea. Sometimes we just start jamming off one
another. Sometimes it’s all together, sometimes it’s
just two or three of us, but eventually we will all put
in our share on the song. It really depends from song
to song.
JS: What would you say are your favorite and least favorite things about being on tour?
RR: Favorite thing: The really close personal relationships between the crew that develop. There’s 11 of us
in a 12-person bus and it’s really close quarters. This
particular tour, we’re really lucky to have a very tightly
knit group of people working together. It really is a
team effort, from the merch guy, to the sound guy, to
the lighting guy, to the guitar check . . . we really went
all out on this one. It’s just a great environment to be
a part of. And then on the performance side, it’s just
great to have a whole show that really wows people.
It’s something that you really don’t get to experience
until you get to this level, and I feel really fortunate.
Least Favorite: The smells.
JS: I think most of my fellow St. Louisans would agree
that there is just something special about The Pageant. What is it like to play at such a sweet venue?
RR: Oh, yeah, that’s a great venue! The staff there is
really incredible. They’re super nice and are really pas-

sionate about music and care about the experience.
Bands love to play there because the experience is
so great. They understand what it’s like for a touring
band and they try to have everything there to make it
as smooth as possible. I really like the stage because
it’s pretty high but the crowd is so close to you. It’s a
big venue but it still seems intimate.
JS: What’s in store for us after this tour? Have you
started working on a new album yet?
RR: We’re still kind of in the early stages. We just released our recent album a year ago. Because there
are always so many ideas floating around, I think it’s
natural that we get a little impatient. We’re always
writing new songs and there’s a bunch of stuff that
didn’t make the first album because it wasn’t finished.
After the new year, we will really start hunkering down
and working on it. We’re thinking probably next summer for the new album.
JS: Ryan, thanks for taking some time out of your busy
schedule to talk with us. I can’t wait for your show next
week here in St. Louis!
RR: All right, man, thank you so much!

Ryan Rabin and the rest of Grouplove will be performing at The Pageant on Monday, Oct. 8th. Be sure to
get your tickets as soon as possible, as many of their
upcoming shows have already sold out.

unewsonline.com

OCTOBER 4, 2012

ARTS 13

Copyright reform activist League of Laughter performs
releases another YA novel first show of the school year
By ALANAH NANTELL
Arts Editor

Where can you find a
Bible salesman, an arsonist
and a cookie-addicted monster sitting side-by-side in
one room? Look no further
than the Xavier Black Box
Theatre, where League of
Laughter performed on
Friday, Sept. 28.
LOL, SLU’s only improv
comedy group, is made up
of students from all walks
of their SLU career, ranging from undergrads to
doctorate students.
Peter Hasser, now a
first-year graduate student,
has been involved with the
league for about three years
and considers it a “haven”
that provides a break from
the days of classes and
meetings and makes time
for laughter and an outlet
to be one’s self.
“People are weird, and
too often society tells us
that these differences or
oddities that we all have
are unacceptable. We’re
forced to bury the hilarious
quirks that make us unique
or risk being written off as
weird. In comedic improv,
those sorts of oddities are
encouraged,” he said.
Jason McCoy / Staff Writer

Author Cory Doctorow speaking about his new young adult book “Pirate Cinema.”

By JASON McCOY
Staff Writer

Most science-fiction authors write about the future
while using antiqued methods to distribute books, but
Cory Doctorow’s holistic
approach to science fiction
uses anything but antiquated methods.
Saint Louis University’s
own young adult literature
guru, Jennifer Buehler, has
even called him an “Internet radical”, referencing
anti-DRM (Digital Rights
Management)
creative
commons licenses covering
his work.
His best selling book
“Little Brother” depicts
a high school geek overthrowing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security after a terrorist attack
causes the creation of oppressive security policies.
On Oct. 2, Doctorow
started a tour celebrating
the release of his young

adult book “Pirate Cinema.”
This worldly literature juggernaut started his grand
tour in the humble St. Louis
County Library.
The usual battalion of
bearded, white fanboys in
black T-shirts stood out at
the reading.
However, a diverse assortment of grade schoolers, teens, teachers and
retirees that filled in the
empty spots hinted at Doctorow’s mass appeal.
Doctorow let his activist side show as he laid out
detailed critiques of current copyright legislation
and possible solutions in a
post-scarcity world. After
outlining large sections of
cyberpunk manifesto with
practiced vigor, he read selected passages from his
newest novel.
In “Pirate Cinema,” a
teenage boy spends most of
his time illegally downloading movies to cut and mix
together into short films.
An appropriate comparison

would be the mashup artist Girl Talk, who does a
similar thing by cutting and
mixing with popular music.
Little goes wrong until the
government catches him
and deprives his household
of internet access.
To avoid the wrath of
his family, he takes to the
streets of London to live a
life of poverty.
His luck turns for the
better as he meets a gang
of street-savvy dumpsterdivers and squatters who
help him survive on the
rough streets and realize
his ultimate goal: punishing
the film industry that bankrolled repressive copyright
laws.
As laughter from his German and English accents
faded, Doctorow fielded
questions about writing, internet policy and activism.
His final act before disappearing from the Midwest
was defacing his own printed word with heartwarming
notes and signatures.

Doctorate student Melissa Ford agrees. “The
people in LOL are so funny
and creative, it blows my
mind what they come up
with ... Being surrounded
by great, funny, creative
people brings out the best
in you,” she said.
The quirks came out
throughout the evening
performance as each member of the cast created his
or her own persona almost
immediately following the
issuing of a prompt. From
criminals convicted of pooping on the White House
lawn, to a couple of goofy
one-line cops, characters
were created instantly and
kept the audience laughing
throughout the show.
The
entertainment
ranged from skits such as
“The Dating Game” when
Ford had to choose between an unsurely group of
men to a game called “Interrogation,” where Hasser
and another cast member
interrogated a “criminal”
unaware of the crime he
committed.
Ford said that this show
was “great” and was comprised of all veteran cast
members, making for a
show where they “were

able to have fun and be relaxed on stage.”
Cast members were not
the only ones having fun
during the performance, as
LOL engaged the audience
throughout the entire show,
asking for suggestions for
everything from character
types to settings.
Audience members only
get to experience this sort
of laughter during LOL’s
periodic performances, but
Hasser says that this is a
weekly event for him during
practice.
“I don’t think that most
people fall into spells of
gut-twisting laughter quite
often enough. I get to have
that experience just about
every Friday, for free,” said
Hasser.
According to Hasser,
the group will begin to introduce higher-complexity
games and formats throughout the year in order to create a better improv experience for both audience and
cast members.
Ford encourages everyone who is interested in
performing or just practicing their improv skills to
join them on Fridays for
practice.

Hansard: A show for all ages
Continued from Page 11

He had a 10-person band
behind him that consisted
of his former band, the
Frames, as well as a horn
section. After these songs,
the concert bounced around
from full band soft rock to
just Glen on stage playing
acoustic songs (even taking
some requests).
He played his original
music as recorded with
the Frames, Marketa Irglova (together known as
The Swell Season), as well
as music from his solo album. Not only did he play
favorites from all of these
bands (and from the movie
“Once”), but he played covers by Van Morrison, Marvin Gaye and Bob Dylan.
The Marvin Gaye piece captured the essence of SKA. It
was very unlike Hansard,

but it was impossible to not
enjoy it.
He and the band were
having so much fun on
stage during this song (and
throughout the whole concert) that even if you did
not like the music, the fun
they were having would still
leave a smile on your face.
Hansard put on the perfect musical performance,
immersed in passion and
emotion.
Not only did he play
music incredibly, but he
even kept the audience entertained with his sense of
humor and easy-going attitude.
He invited a random person on stage because she
was trying to take a photo
with her Polaroid camera,
so he gathered the entire band with their arms
around each other for a pic-

ture. Hansard was so laid
back that the security of
The Pageant did not know
what to do half the time.
Even though they might
not have appreciated it, the
fans adored his friendliness.
Hansard built such a relationship with the audience
that he even played three
extra songs that were not
on the set list because they
were requested. It was evident that he really enjoyed
the audience.
Not only did Hansard
win over St. Louis with his
music and character, but it
would appear that St. Louis
won him over, as well. Not
many artists allow themselves to be vulnerable
enough to enjoy an audience as much as an audience enjoys them, but one
could see it on Hansard’s
face that he did.

It is not every day a
Grammy-winning producer
is at Saint Louis University.
However, on Saturday, Sept.
29, Alonzo Lee, who won
a Grammy for his work on
Ludacris’ 2006 album, “Release Therapy,” was in St.
Louis to promote his work
with America SCORES as
they attempted to break a
world record for the most
soccer balls dribbling at
one time.
America
SCORES,
which organized the event,
is a nonprofit organization
dedicated to bringing soccer and poetry to inner-city
youth.
All proceeds went directly to the programs of the
cities that participated in order to continue their efforts
of youth involvement in soccer and poetry.
“It is important to help
America
SCORES
because …. it is important
for [adults] to support the
children and support important causes like America
SCORES,” Lee said.
Lee is one of the members of Trak Starz, a hiphop production group from
St. Louis.
He and another member, Shamar Daugherty, are
credited with launching the
career of St. Louis artist Chingy and producing his first
hit single, “Right Thurr.”
After the success with
Chingy, Lee went on to produce Ludacris’ platinum al-

bum “Chicken-n-Beer” and
remix Britney Spears’ hit
song “Me Against the Music (Trak Starz Remix).”
In 2007, however, Lee
had his biggest success in
music when he and Ludacris received the Grammy
for best rap album. Their
production of “Do Your
Time,” featuring Beanie

“

It is my idea
and my mantra
to do something
more meaningul
beyond music.
-Alonzo Lee

”

Sigel, C-Murder and the
late Pimp C, was the biggest
contribution to this win.
Lee, however, was at the
America SCORES event
to make an impact beyond
music.
“It is my idea and my
mantra to do something
more meaningful beyond
music,” Lee said, “It is more
important to do more meaningful work, like work with
children and the program.”
Lee acknowledges that
presence in the music business gave him the opportunity to have a voice and
make a difference.
“Music has given me a
voice and a position to be
able to make a difference
whether it is in one person’s

life or millions of people’s
lives,” Lee said.
Lee credits Ludacris
with not only his career in
production, but the idea to
give back to the community.
“Ludacris started a foundation and a lot of what I’m
doing is modeled off what
he does,” Lee said.
Besides Ludacris, Lee
recognizes his mother for
inspiring him to educate
children. Lee’s mother
is a retired educator and
worked with children on a
regular basis.
“At times, she would
bring children back to the
house and work with them
and I saw the extra effort
she was putting into changing their lives.
She got to see her kids
grow up and become successful, so I lived and witnessed the power of what it
means to give back, so I’m
just following her suit,” Lee
said.
Lee produced a song
about the importance of
education for America
SCORES and had some of
his performers perform
positive songs about the
role of education.
Lee also brought poets
who spoke about how education changed their lives
and the positive route they
took instead of getting involved in other negative
influences like violence and
drugs.
Lee’s participation in the
America SCORES world record shows how he uses his
influence to give back to the
community.

Photo courtesy of: www.glenhansardmusic.com

Glen Hansard’s album “Rhythm and Repose” is his solo debut, and was released earlier this year.

Pickard: On the craft of poetry
Continued from Page 12

poetry is celebrated for its
range of emotion and style,
which he demonstrated that
afternoon. Various themes
intermingled in each poem;
poems about love seamlessly followed poems about
politics.
“I really enjoyed Pickard’s reading and thought
that his poems were very
personal and insightful,” senior Josh Pazderka said. “I
had to read one of his books
for a poetry class and listening to him really adds a new
depth to his work.”

A week later, the audience returned at the same
time and place to hear Pickard give a talk on the craft
of poetry.
His focus on his hometown in rural England made
it clear that geography is an
influential force in his writing.
He also spoke of his relationship with older poet
Basil Bunting. Pickard, who
left school at the age of 14
in order to pursue his poetic
aspirations, fostered a close
relationship with Bunting,
who became another large
influence on his work.
Pickard discussed his

relationships and collaborations with local singer-songwriters and the audience
listened to some of the music that his poetry helped
create.
The event closed with a
short question-and-answer
session.
In addition to these two
events, Pickard also visited
the creative writing poetry
classes in the English department to speak with students and aspiring poets in
a smaller setting.
The English department
hosts readings through the
Sheila Nolan Whalen Reading Series.